


Press Conference

by sec982



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Post-Episode: s05e23 Lian Yu
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:00:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 32,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26129176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sec982/pseuds/sec982
Summary: Oliver gives an important press conference while remembering the events on Lian Yu, launching his family on a new journey. He and Felicity have to find a way to help William adjust to his new life in Star City and in the public eye.
Relationships: Oliver Queen/Felicity Smoak
Comments: 274
Kudos: 381





	1. Chapter One

Oliver felt sick. He could taste something metallic in his mouth and wondered for an instant if he’d bit his tongue. No, that was just the adrenaline. He clenched and unclenched his fists on the podium as the cameras clicked around him. There was no reason to be nervous, he told himself firmly. He’d done things more dangerous than this before.

But it wasn’t just his neck he was putting on the line this time. It wasn’t Felicity's or Dig’s or anyone on the team’s. It was just an innocent boy who hadn’t signed up for any of this. He cleared his throat and opened his very dry mouth.

“Good afternoon,” he began, looking out at the sea of reporters and cameras waiting for him to start the press conference. There were some general nods, and the clicks began to fade. 

“Certain…” he faltered, closing his eyes for an instant. _ He heard the explosions, smelled the smoke, saw Lian Yu in the distance, and he could feel his feet bobbing on the boat.  _ It took a lot of effort to pull himself back. 

“Certain events have transpired over the last few weeks, both for the city and myself. And while I’ve addressed the events in the city I have not discussed occurrences in my personal life.” Cameras started clicking a little faster and a few reporters leaned forward. 

“Before I proceed, let me stress that while I am in this building the well being of this city and its citizens is at the forefront of my mind, regardless of what personal tragedies I might be tending to.”

_ He was on the boat again, and the boy was surprisingly still in his arms. No shaking or screaming. Just still, concerning and unnaturally still. Probably in shock.  _

“Shock,” Oliver thought to himself briefly. “That’s exactly what this will be described as.” He almost smiled.

“Twelve years ago, when I was in college, I was briefly involved with a woman named Samantha Clayton. Samantha ended things very abruptly and said she was moving back to Central City.”

_ Oliver was grateful for only a few things that transpired that day. One being the airplane bunker that had kept Felicity and the team alive, the other being that he had convinced William to wait for him on the beach, to look at the water, and to not turn around no matter what. He hadn’t had to see. _

“Tragically, last month, her car was struck by a drunk driver, and she was killed instantly on impact.”

_ For a second Oliver thought he could hear the pained tragic sound of Samantha taking her last breath. His arms could still remember her going slack in his embrace.  _ He used the cover of his last sentence to swallow thickly. 

“It was after her untimely death that I learned the truth about why she departed Star City over a decade ago.”

_ When Samantha had told him to be William’s parent had this been what she’d pictured? _

“I have a son.” He paused for a moment as the cameras began to click at high speed. There was a swell of noise as reporters began firing questions.  _ He could hear a beat with each click, explosion, still William on the beach, dead Sam. _ He shook his head and let out a sigh. 

“Please,” he called over the noise. “Please.” He gestured with his hands and the noise died down momentarily. Oliver licked his lips as everyone waited.

“His name is William. He is eleven years old, almost twelve, and after the death of his mother he has been living with me.”

More chatter. He answered no questions. 

“If I may finish!” he called. Silence. 

“While I am thrilled to be a father and happy to have William in my life, the tragic events that brought us together have left a mark. I have no plans to share much information with the general public. He will not be making any public appearances for the foreseeable future.” 

_ Finding Felicity had been a relief. Despite the fact that it was her who had just survived an explosion, he trembled as they embraced. _ He glanced behind him now, and saw her standing just on the other side of the door into the offices of City Hall. She gave him a slight smile.

“William was in the car when his mother was struck.” Silence. 

_ Getting him off the beach had been hard. If Felicity hadn’t been there he didn’t know what he would have done. He’d stopped being still when Oliver told him. William had kicked sand, yelled, screamed, cried, punched, and finally tried to attack him, Dig, Rene, Quintin, anyone who looked, sounded, smelled like Chase. He’d yelled about how they’d killed his mother. Felicity had had to hold him the whole flight home.  _

“While he was for the most part unharmed, he has seen things no child should have to see, and for his sake I ask for privacy while we,” he swallowed, “while we process this grief as a family.”

_ He could hear William whispering over and over, asking again and again. “Is the bad man gone?” No matter how many times Oliver and Felicity promised him, he never seemed to believe them.  _

“I will also assume,” Oliver continued, putting his prepared cards away, “that in the days to come, investigations will be done on Samantha Clayton. Everyone will speculate about her decision to keep my son from me.”

She’d asked him to be his parent. She said to protect him. Oliver was confident he could protect him from mad men, bombs, arrows, bullets, but this...the media?

“Look,” he said, turning on his genuine charm. “We’ve all seen the videos of me in college, drunk, attacking paparazzi. I know who I was back then, and I don’t blame Samantha at all. Does it pain me, yes of course. But I understand why she did it, and I hold no ill will towards her. I was not ready to be a father then. And I simply consider myself fortunate to be the man that I am now, so that I can support my son as he goes through what, I pray, will be the worst thing that ever happens to him.”

He paused again. The silence stretched out. 

“And I’m not naive. I know I can’t stop the stories or the speculation about any of it, but I want to make it clear that Samantha Clayton made nothing if not understandable decisions. And I admire her for her strength and determination and the fact that she raised a remarkable child, on her own. I simply ask that as you write your stories, your opinion pieces, editorials, or talk about this on the news, that you remember that behind all of this is an eleven year old boy, who lost his mother, suddenly and violently. The last thing he deserves to see, is her name dragged through the mud.”

One hand went up. He recognized it as Ginger Boi, who ran the political section of the Star. 

“Giger,” he called. She stood up, clicking her taper recorder off. 

“How is he?” she asked. Her tone was soft. Oliver gave her a sad look. He remembered reading about how her own husband was killed three years ago in a shooting, leaving her alone with their two children.

“I will not lie and say fine,” he answered. “But he is the safest home I can give him, and that has been a comfort.”

Ginger gave him a sad smile and returned to her seat. Other calls came out, asking Oliver to describe the runion. Where was he when he found out? Was there any other family? Was Oliver expecting a custody battle? Was William in therapy? Did he have a paternity test done? How was he coping with single fatherhood? 

The mayor answered none of them but shot the crowd of desperate reporters one last smile and wave before exiting back into the safety of his office. 

_ “It’s going to be okay,” Felicity whispered as they rode on the plane away from Lian Yu. William’s head was pressed to her chest. There was a steady beep from the life support machines, keeping Thea alive. William was blinking in time with the beats. He couldn’t stop crying, couldn’t even look at Oliver, just clung to Felicity.  _

_ “It’s going to be okay,” she kept whispering.  _

_ Oliver felt like he was in a dream, disconnected from his body, it’s movements foreign to him. He reached forward, desperate to feel connected, to bring himself back. Felicity took his hand firmly, making eye contact with him for a long hard moment. _

“It’s going to be okay,” she said when he arrived in his office. 

“Is it?” he asked, throwing his prepared remarks in the trash. “They’re still going to write all those things about Samantha and Will is going to see them.”

“Well,” Felicity supplied sheepishly. “I can always hack into the email accounts of anyone who publishes something too tabloid-esk. Sign them up for a million mailing lists.”

Despite it, all Oliver smiled. “Home?” he asked. 

She smiled back and nodded. 

  
  
  
  



	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To the surprise of definitely not me, I wound up writing more. Not sure how many chapters this is going to wind up being, but it is officially slightly canon divergent, in that Oliver and Felicity are openly together. Hope you enjoy.

The events of the next day were Felicity’s idea. They’d discussed it before. Was it needed? How to handle it? They’d agreed it wasn’t possible to do so without intense questions and speculation till after the press conference. On the limo ride home, after the said conference, she brought it up again. And finally out of excuses, he agreed. 

_ William had slept for forty hours straight upon their return. Not knowing where else to take him, they’d gone to Felicity’s Loft. Oliver’d suggested the bunker, but Felicity pointed out William had likely been kept in the dark for his whole capture. He needed light and air, and since Oliver had no other home, that left the loft.  _

_ “But what would that mean, for us?” he asked, stroking his sleeping son’s head as they drove through the city from ARGUS.  _

Light streamed abruptly into William’s room, and he covered his eyes moaning. His was the only room with four walls around it, and hence the only one you could sleep past 9am in. 

He groaned, throwing a pillow over his face. 

“Time to get up buddy.” Oliver said, opening the last of the blinds. William lifted his head and checked the time. It was 10:20am.

“Where’s Raisa?” he asked, not wanting to look at the man they said was his father. 

“Took the day off.”

“You’re late for work.”

“I also took the day off.”

“I would like the day off then,” William suggested hopefully.

“That is not an option,” said Oliver, opening one of the stuffed suitcases and trying to find something comfortable that was not pajamas. 

“Since when?” William asked. The last month had been a blur of sleeping, eating, and more sleeping. He hadn’t even had the inclination to spy on Oliver or Felicity’s conversation. 

_ “What do we do?” Felicity asked. He could feel her fingers on his arm as Oliver carried him over the threshold of a strange place. _

_ “We clear out the guest room,” Oliver answered. _

“Since Felicity gave me a book on preteens and trauma.”

William raised his head curiously. 

“And you read it?”

“I skimmed the first two chapters. It says allowing you to wallow rather than making new memories is, while immediately easier, ultimately toxic.” Oliver explained, still fishing through the suitcase. “Do you not have any socks?”

“So what do we do instead of wallow?”

“We set reasonable accomplishable goals.”

“Like?”

“Starting apartment hunting, and apparently buying socks.” Oliver tossed a pair of khakis and a T-Shirt at his son.

“Finding an apartment in a day sounds reasonable to you?” William asked, swinging his legs over the bed and looking at his father curiously. 

“I said  _ start _ not finish. I’m going to go get you some of my socks.” He glanced at William’s small feet. “Or maybe one of Felicity’s.” 

_ “Please eat,” Oliver whispered. They were sitting in the bedroom, the lights turned down low and William was buried under a pile of blankets. He hadn’t moved since they’d arrived home three days before. Oliver had spread out before him an array of food options, from chinese, to big belly burger, to home cooked chicken, steak, eggs, bacon, cake, brownies, and so much more.  _

_ “Anything you want,” Oliver whispered, moving his hair out of his eyes. “Please just eat.” But William didn’t feel like he could get out of the bed. He wasn’t strong enough. _

His feet touched the floor. He changed quickly but stepped slowly out into the main area of the Loft. Felicity was sitting on the couch, a lap desk balanced on her legs and supporting her tablet, coffee on the side table next to her. She was staring intently on the screen, fingers flying across the attached keyboard. She didn’t look up when he entered.

William cocked his head at her, and felt instantly at ease. She was so absorbed in something other than him and it made him feel normal, almost. 

“Eggs,” Oliver asked from the kitchen, dish towel tossed over his shoulder. “Bacon? Muffins?”

“Eggs,” William answered, moving around Felicity and onto one of the stools. The mayor placed a plate before him laden with eggs and toast.

“Oliver?” he asked cautiously. Oliver glanced at him and assessed the plate.

“Right ketchup,” he said apologetically, placing it in front of his son, before moving around him with a muffin on a plate. He set the plate down next to Felicity. William noticed he was sure to let the plate clatter a bit more than was natural. It made her jump but at least register the food.

“Blueberry?” she asked.

“And bran.” Oliver answered.

“Gross.”

“Healthy.” 

William took a bite of his own breakfast, not wanting to get involved in a marital spat. But it ended there. Oliver sat next to him, drinking his own coffee and eating his own eggs, with no ketchup, and skimming the newspaper.

William saw a picture of Oliver bathed in flashing camera lights and a bold headline. “MAYOR DISCOVERS ILLEGITIMATE SON.”

William diverted his eyes quickly. Oliver had told him two days ago that he was going to tell the press. Will hadn’t said anything at the time, but it seemed much easier to distance himself from the reality of it in his dark bedroom, than out here eating eggs over the paper. 

_ The screaming made his throat feel raw, but before he was totally awake he felt strong arms wrapping around him, lifting him and carrying him out of the dark solitary room, up a flight of stairs and into a large bed. He was cocooned between two warm bodies, one soft and one tense. For a moment he thought the soft one was his mom, then he saw the blond hair. Despite the disappointment, he edged as close to her as he dared, away from the tense one. Felicity wrapped an arm around him without missing a beat, and Oliver’s breathing evened out on the other side of him.  _

“You okay?” Oliver asked, noticing William’s eyes on the paper. 

“Fine,” William answered, taking the last bite of egg. Oliver cleared the plates and the newspaper instantly. 

“We should head out. We have an appointment with the realtor at 11.” 

William stood up. He had nothing to grab. Oliver picked up his wallet and phone from the counter. He pocketed them as he moved to Felicity, bending to kiss her temple.

“Remember,” she called as they exited the apartment. 

“Three bedrooms, I know!” Oliver called back, closing the door. 

William didn’t know what to say as the elevator descended. He was very focused on staying calm. He could count on one hand the number of times he’d left the apartment since arriving a month ago. They’d been for doctors appointments and one long quiet appointment with an ARGUS trauma counselor. They didn’t speak as they walked across the lobby. William could see a limo waiting for them outside, along with several reporters across the street. 

Oliver spotted them two seconds before his son, and gave the boy a gentle tug into the mailbox alcove. He patted his son’s head, as William took a deep shaking breath. Oliver brushed his hair back from his forehead.

“Do you want to turn back?”

William shook his head. He didn’t want Oliver to think he was a coward. 

“Okay,” Oliver whispered, sighing deeply. “Just keep your head down till you get in the car, and no matter what, don’t say anything.” He had hoped it wouldn’t come to this, prayed that they’d be satisfied, but perhaps despite what he’d said at the press conference, he truly was naive. 

The noise surrounded them on all sides. Or at least it felt that way to William. He knew logically that they were across the street, far away. Not all around them, but the noise, it was so much. 

_ He felt smoke pressing into his lungs. He kneeled on the ground feeling the sand beneath his feet. He could smell something other than smoke...something burning.  _

The questions did register in his brain, just slowly. How was he coping with his mother’s death? Had she ever told him Oliver Queen was his father? Was he in therapy? Did he miss his mom? Where was he planning on going to school?

Oliver threw a protective arm over William, who did a good job keeping his head pointed towards the ground. Despite their best efforts Oliver knew there would be clear photos of the two of them. John moved after only two seconds to William’s other side, opening the door and getting the boy in first. Oliver followed quickly behind, with Dig bringing up the rear. Once the door was closed, the diver pulled away from the corner leaving the clicking photographers and reporters behind. 

“So apartment hunting, right William?” Diggle said, adjusting his bodyguard suit. “You're excited?” he smiled kindly, hoping to draw the boy out of his shell. Though they hadn’t spent much time together, he was fond of the boy's demeanor and rare smiles. They reminded him of Oliver. 

“Not really,” William answered, looking at the floor of the limo. He glanced in Oliver’s general direction. “I don’t see why we can’t stay at Felicity’s loft.”

“Well buddy,” Oliver answered, “there isn’t a lot of privacy at the loft. The only rooms with doors are yours and the bathroom. Felicity and I thought we could use more space.”

“For sex?” he asked. Oliver nearly choked and Diggle suppressed a laugh. 

“Well at least you don’t have to give him that talk,” Digg said through a wide smile. “That’s probably in everyone’s best interest.”

“I mean I’m almost twelve. I know what married people do.” 

“That’s...um...okay...but Felicity and I aren’t married.”

Will looked Oliver full in the face for once, suddenly confused. “You’re not? Why?”

“Yeah Oliver,” Dig echoed. “Why?”

“It’s,” Oliver faltered for a moment. He met Will’s gaze and was further thrown by noticing how similar his eyes were to his own. “It’s complicated and...and oh look we’re here!”

Oliver almost jumped out of the car while it was still moving. William looked at Diggle in confusion. He raised his eyebrows and smiled, jerking his head indicating William should follow which he did, after shooting John a brief smile. 

“But I’m confused,” William said, following his father out of the car. “Because married people love each other and live together and help each other through hard times and argue about what movie to watch.”

“It’s more complicated than that, but mostly true,” Oliver said, reluctant to cut the conversation off. It was the first real conversation they’d had that hadn’t been about Adrian Chase or the death of his mother. 

“So why aren’t you married?” Will asked as Oliver opened the door to the realtor. 

“It’s complicated.”

“But you love each other right? And you’re planning a life together. Like she wants three bedrooms, and you want a door that locks so you can have sex.”

“Buddy,” Oliver said, turning slowly towards his son, hands in his pockets. “Can we talk about this later?” 

William blushed. He hadn’t realized how loud he was being. A few receptionists and people in the waiting room were staring. 

“Mayor Queen,” a voice called. Oliver turned and William leaned around him to look down the hall. A woman with a short blown out curly hair style in her late sixties was waving wildly at them. “Come in come in.”

Oliver squeezed William’s shoulder and let him pass him to first down the hall. He followed the woman in the kitten heels and was relieved when the door was closed and they were alone.

“Thank you for squeezing us in Mrs. Gregor. I appreciate it.”

“Not a problem. Let’s see,” she said, placing glasses on her nose and glancing at William curiously. He could see a copy of today’s paper on the shelf behind her. 

“We’re looking for a three bedroom apartment to purchase in downtown Star City?” she confirmed. 

“Yes close to City Hall and Star City Public.”

“Naturally,” she said as she began typing on her computer. She was still shooting William the occasional glance. “I did speak to Ms. Smoak...your…” she trailed off, focusing on Oliver now waiting for the label to leave his lips.

It was moments like these that made him regret his policy about not getting people to sign Non Disclosure Agreements. 

“She wants a three bedroom,” he answered, disappointing Mrs. Gregor but not deterring her. 

“She mentioned, but she didn’t say what size the third bedroom should be...office size...nursery size…”

William raised his eyebrows, glancing nervously at the mayor. Oliver was pointedly keeping his attention on the realtor. 

“Office,” he answered. 

“Office that could be converted into a nursery?” 

“Or an office that could be an office.” 

“How about a four bedroom, so you have the nursery option?”

“He just wants an office,” William cut in, furrowing his brow at the realtor. 

“Alright then,” she said, stretching out her fingers in surrender. “So just an office?”

“Just an office.” 

“Well I have a couple lovely properties for you to see. Let me just grab the keys.” 

The couple of lovely properties turned out to be six apartments, all of which looked the same to William, and many of which were noted by the relator as having room for a nursery. Was she allergic to the word office?

By the times the tours were over his head was aching. They were driving in the car with Digg who was flipping through the one sheets. 

“Oliver?” William asked, from the opposite side of the limo. “I know you wanted to buy socks, but I’m really tired. Can we just go home?”

Oliver smiled at him, tightly, his eyes showing no expression. “Sure buddy.”

_ “You haven’t been sleeping?” Felicity observed, lightly scratching William’s back as he lay between them.  _

_ “I’ve just been thinking.” _

_ “About?” _

_ “He doesn't call me dad,” Oliver whispered. Felicity didn’t know what to say. She just started into his eyes for a long time.  _


	3. Chapter Three

William had not known that you could lie in bed so much that it hurt. But you could apparently. He was up late sitting at the kitchen counter. He’d woken up from a nightmare without screaming for once, so there was no Oliver, awakened by yells, to scoop him up. He’d only come out of his room for a change of scenery and because Felicity and Oliver were very quiet. The lights above the counter were on but the rest of the loft was dark. 

His fingers were hovering over the keyboard of his new laptop. Everyday since the apartment hunting had started Oliver or Felicity had dragged him somewhere. They’d gone clothes shopping, toy shopping, even to a science museum. He didn't mind today’s trip to the tech store though. Felicity had gotten him a nice laptop and Oliver had also added on a video gaming system, none of which he’d asked for. He didn’t like asking them for things. But they gave nevertheless and now google was glaring at him from the other side of the highest tech screen Felicity could justify buying for a preteen. 

His mind had been racing, trying to decide what to search. He was torn between looking up Oliver, Felicity, the Green Arrow, his mother, Lian Yu, Adrian Chase, but he landed on himself. 

_ “William Clayton,” said the overly chipper doctor as she knocked on the door. This room wasn’t like any pediatrician office he'd ever been in before. It was all dark and metallic. He didn’t care though. He just kept glancing at Oliver and edging further and further into Felicity’s arms.  _

_ “And this must be mom and dad,” the doctor continued. Stretching out her hand to Oliver. _

_ “Actually just...just dad,” Oliver said slowly. He glanced at William who didn’t say anything, but looked at the floor and moved closer to Felicity. _

To his surprise a lot of news stories pop up. He expected his mother’s obituary but it was not even in the first ten hits. He selected the first one and saw a video of Oliver at the top of the article. He clicked play and watched the press conference playing out at a low volume.

“Hey,” said a sudden chipper voice, and he snapped the laptop closed. He looked up to see Felicity, her hair loose, coming down the stairs, pulling on a bathrobe. Her phone stuck out of one of the pockets. 

“Couldn’t sleep,” she supplied, pulling out a tub of ice cream and two spoons. He shrugged as she popped the lid and slid him a spoon.

“So what were you watching?”

“Nothing,” he lied curtly. 

“Oh buddy,” she answered, smiling at him sympathetically. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and tapped it to her temple. “Parental Notifications.” 

William didn’t protest. His mom had those set up too, and though she rarely checked them he had known about them. Plus it seemed only natural that the notifications go to Felicity, not Oliver. 

“Then why did you ask,” William asked, grabbing a spoon.

_ “First time in ARGUS?” the doctor asks, smiling at him. He glances at her and registers the concern in her eyes, before burying his face back into Felicity.  _

“First rule of internet sleuthing, William, never sleuth what you can get for free,” she declared through a mouth full of mint chip. 

He didn’t answer, just took a bite.

“If you wanted to know about the conference you could have just asked.” 

“I just wanted to know what he said about...like what the story is.”

Felicity sucked on her ice cream till it melted. “ARGUS fabricated the medical examiner and police reports. She was driving you home from a hockey celebration that ran late. You were in the back on the passenger side. You were going through a green light when a drunk driver crashed into your car on the driver's side. Your mom’s side was completely crushed. You survived because you were on the other side of the car.”

_ He hated needles. He knows logically they’ve stuck him with a bunch, but he doesn’t remember it. When he wakes up there’s an IV in his arm and Oliver is stroking his forehead. He jumps away from the man’s touch.  _

“I survived because I was on the boat,” he whispered. She took his hand gently. 

“I know,” she said, closing her eyes, “But we have to lie.”

“Because if people knew the truth about Oliver we’d be in more danger. I know.” 

She nodded slowly, taking a bite of ice cream. William followed suit.

“Shouldn’t we be being quieter?”

“Oh your...Oliver is out.”

William raised an eyebrow at her. 

“My Oliver is out?”

“Yes,” she said, her voice getting a little higher, “that’s a perfectly normal way to phrase that.” She pursed her lips. “Do you want hot fudge? I love hot fudge.” 

“It’s four in the morning,” William pointed out.

“True.”

“He’s off being the Green Arrow isn’t he?”

“Yes,” Felicity admitted, her head in the fridge, then the pantry, then a box under the kitchen sink. “And he threw out all my secret candy stashes!” she added closing the last cabinet with a bang. 

William didn’t say anything, right away. He just watched her carefully as she took another angry bite of ice cream. 

“Does he do that often?” he asked. 

“All. The. Time. Like when we first started dating and were living together in Ivy Town I had this whole stash of licorice hidden in a shoe box, and he found it with his little bloodhound nose. Either that or he was trying to steal my Jimmy Choos.”

“No, I mean does he go be the Green Arrow often?” 

“Oh, yeah that makes more sense.” She sighed and let the ice cream spoon drop. She rubbed her temples for a minute. “He hasn’t been going out as much this summer, but…” she let the sentence drift for a moment.

“Your dad is a good man, and he does what he does very well. It will be fine.” 

William winced at her word choice and changed the subject very quickly. 

“I think you need a new realtor.”

“And why is that,” she said. He picked up his own spoon. 

“The one you have now is nosy. She was asking about you and Oliver’s relationship and kept showing us apartments with too many rooms and pointing out where nurseries could go.

“Ah,” said Felicity. She smiled a little, and it was so genuine William almost smiled too, almost.

“She’s a friend of my mother,” the hacker explained, pushing her glasses up her nose with her none ice cream eating hand. “That’s why we got the appointment so last minute, but she is one thousand and one percent a spy for my mom with ulterior motives.” 

“So you and Oliver aren’t pregnant?”

“No, of course not.” Felicity answered, puckering her lips again and tilting her head up to look him full in the face. “Why do you call him Oliver?” 

William frowned at her, but before he could answer there was a whooshing sound and the balcony doors opened. A man clad in green and black leather was airborne and in the process of landing lightly on the stone. 

“Hey,” Oliver said, as he walked through the doors, closing them behind him. He pulled his hood down and twitched his wrist. His bow retracted. 

“Ice cream?” he asked, pulling his mask off and glancing at the clock. “At four am?”

“Accomplishable activities,” Felicity answered, her tone somehow both defensive and joking at the same time. 

_ “Where’s Felicity?” he asked Oliver, through a choked voice. He noticed the doctor glance at the two of them in mild surprise, before going back to checking her machines. _

_ “The doctors needed to look her over, but I’m here buddy.” _

_ “I want Felicity.” _

“Bed I think,” Oliver said, touching William lightly on the shoulder. He didn’t answer but took one last mouthful of ice cream and walked out of Oliver’s reach, reminding himself not to walk too fast. Oliver waited for the door to close, his hands on his hips as he looked at Felicity. She tilted her head watching and William disappeared from their view.

“Did he say much?” 

“No,” she answered, pulling a third spoon from a drawer and handing it to him. “He doesn’t like that Mrs. Gregor keeps talking about nurseries.”

“Well at least we have one thing in common,” Oliver muttered, taking some ice cream noting that the pint is nearly gone.

“You have lots of things in common,” she started, wanting to comfort him.

“He hates me Felicity. He prefers you.”

“He doesn’t hate you. Remember what the doctors said, he’s associating you with his mother’s death, and his brain is having a hard time separating you from-”

“From the trauma Adrian inflicted. I remember.” 

“They said he’d need time,” she reminded him through pursed lips.

“It’s been a month,” he snapped.

“So he needs more time,” she snapped back, making a gesture with his hand to keep his voice low. “Look, I know this isn’t how you imagined it, but he’s been through a lot. And It’s understandable that he is gravitating more towards me. Samantha raised him by herself, and he’s not as used to a strong male presence, and your particular brand,” she gestured to his whole leather clad body, “is very strong.” 

“So what? I grow my hair out again and go all soft.”

“No, you be yourself and make him feel comfortable and eventually he’ll let you in. He’s already improving. He doesn’t freak out if you touch him.” 

“Right,” Oliver said, stepping back, “Any good news.”

“I narrowed down your list of three apartments to one. So I put in the asking price offer.”

“Which one?” 

“The one with the sliding doors.” 

Oliver let out a chuckle. “The freakishly modern place.” 

Felicity waved her hands around the loft. “I’m sorry is that not our style.”

“I’m not complaining. I liked that place.”

“Good because they accepted the offer.” She pulled at one of the strings on his suit and he bent over the counter and kissed her. “We close next week,” she added breaking up their lips for an instant.

“You’re right, good news,” he murmured back, kissing her again. 

“Also don’t think I didn’t notice my missing candy.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed it! Everyone stay safe and have a good weekend.


	4. Chapter 4

“Okay,” said Oliver, directing his voice to William. “Historic moment.”

His son glanced up from his laptop, and closed it slowly. He had carefully made sure to angle it away from Oliver so he couldn’t see the speculative editorial about Samantha Clayton hiding his existence from Oliver. He’d gone through too much trouble getting around Felicity’s parental software to get caught now. He looked at Oliver tense. 

“Felicity!” Oliver called, “Historic moment.” There were footsteps as Felicity came out of the upstairs bedroom. 

“Sorry she called, so many boxes. I always forget how many boxes are involved in moving.” She took a place next to William rubbing his arm lightly, without noticing. He still did not relax, eyes fixed nervously on Oliver.

“What’s up?” she asked, glasses shimmering and her face smiling. 

“I have been on pinterest,” Oliver answered, handing her a glass of wine. William raised an eyebrow.

“Pinterest?” he repeated. 

“Yes,” Oliver said, tone flat, “pinterest.”

Felicity started to guffaw. “Did you, like, lose a bet with John? Or?” She trailed off.

Oliver blinked at her.

“Oh, we’re being serious,” Felicity said. “Okay...so, you were on...pinterest.”

William could tell she was struggling to keep a straight face. 

“And I read about a compromise system for families for eating healthy. It’s called the jar method.” He gestured to two large glass cookie jars before him filled with small pieces of paper. “In this jar,” he explained enthusiastically, “you have healthy food that I like. And in this jar you have unhealthy food that you guys like. Every evening we draw a piece of paper from each jar and that is what we have for dinner.”

He seemed very proud of himself. 

“And like you’ll actually make the unhealthy stuff?” William asked. “Like if I put in chocolate cake you have to make it and we have it for dinner.”

“Yes,” Oliver admitted hesitating, narrowing his eyes at them. William and Felicity both leaned forward. “But you also have to eat the healthy stuff. Like I pull out steamed kale and we eat that and chocolate cake.”

“That doesn’t seem all that healthy,” William cut in. “Like there are five food groups and three macronutrients Da-” he cut himself off. 

Felicity had been about to take a sip of wine. She lowered the glass. Oliver's eyes had widened and William rubbed his lips together momentarily, heart pounding. 

“Oliver,” he corrected himself. His voice was shaking a little “To be a complete healthy meal it needs carbs, protein, and fats. But chocolate cake and kale would have nutrients yes, but no protein.”

Oliver’s throat was closing. He was so close and it was snatched away. He didn’t know what to say.

_ Oliver is leaning on the wall outside the ARGUS psychiatrist’s office. He’s always hated mental health doctors, bad memories from when they were set on him after the rescue from Lian Yu. He glances through the glass on the door frame and can see William, so small sitting quietly on a couch, under the blanket he brought with him from home.  _

“Well how about we give it a try,” Felicity covered, “And if it doesn’t work then I will fill the jars with candy.”

“No candy,” Oliver said, shaking it off. 

“If it works no candy,” William suggested, a guilty lump rising in his throat, “If it doesn’t candy.”

“That you can’t throw out,” Felicity added quickly. “To be refilled no more than twice a week.” 

Oliver took a deep breath, trying to hide the shake. 

“Once a week.”

“Done,” Felicity said, taking a sip of wine, “historic moment. William,” she rubbed his arm. “You want to do the honors.”

Felicity started making a drum rolls sound with her mouth, till both Oliver and William stared at her. 

“Not that kind of historic moment, okay,” she said, taking another sip of wine. William privately thought the alcohol was going to her head. Oliver knew it wasn’t. 

William stretched out his fingers, wiggling them slightly, and reaching into the healthy jar, pulling out a piece of paper. 

“Chicken and Kale Coconut Curry,” he read. He blinked. “How much of this involves kale?”

“A decent amount of the healthy options involve kale.” Oliver confessed. William pursed his lips, and Felicity took a deep drink of wine.

“Okay,” William said, sticking his hand in the unhealthy option jar. He pulled out one of the folded squares of paper and after a quick glance a smile spread over his face. “Pancakes and maple syrup.” 

Felicity snorted into her wine. 

“Chicken and Kale Coconut Curry with pancakes and maple syrup on the side,” William said slowly. He turned to look at Oliver. “I’m not eating that.”

“It’s all the macronutrients,” Oliver said defensively. “Although it would still be all the macronutrients if you let me make rice instead of pancakes.”

“The only way I’m eating kale is with a side of pancakes,” Felicity said. 

“Oliver,” William implored, turning to him. 

“Fine, I'll order pizza, but everyone gets their own salad.” 

“Great,” William muttered, picking up his laptop, and headed off towards his new room. “I’m going to go unpack.” He paused as he passed Oliver. He hesitated by a moment, then patted him gingerly on the arm. “Maybe no more Pinterest.”

As he wandered off, Felicity grabbed one of the jars, with a grin. “Hello, new candy jar number one.” 

Oliver turned away from her, bracing his hands on either side of his new sink. He felt a burning sensation in his eyes. 

_ “He needs time,” the psychiatrist said, consulting his notes from his conversation with William. They seemed extensive considering how little William had seemed to speak. _

_ “Time?” _

_ “Yes, time. Under normal circumstances, when you’re dealing with an estranged parent it takes a while for a child to overcome the feeling of loss and abandonment.” _

_ “I didn’t abandon him,” Oliver snaps defensively.  _

_ “I know,” the psychiatrist placates. “But for William, you’ve been absent his whole life. And his mother is no longer available to blame, which just leaves you. Combine this with the trauma of being kidnapped separated from his mother, deprived of his senses for days, not to mention his grief.” _

_ Oliver buried his head in his hands pulling at his face. _

_ “He’ll likely be fine Mr. Queen. Children are resilient and at his age, they can overcome much.” _

_ “But?” _

_ “It won’t happen overnight.” _

Felicity set down her wine and newly won candy jar and moved around the kitchen island. She wrapped her arms around his torso. 

“I know,” she said slowly, “it doesn’t feel good, him dangling it and taking it away, but it’s a good thing. He’s opening up.” Her voice was thick. 

“I just love him,” Oliver whispered.

“I know.” She rubbed his back. 

_ Oliver came into what Layla said was the soft room, where they keep kids recovering from trauma. He finds Felicity sitting with William on the floor. He has some action figures spread out in front of them but isn’t touching them. Felicity is whispering to him softly, holding a figure of the flash loosely in her hand.  _

_ “Hey buddy,” Oliver said softly, entering with a mild knock. Felicity looks up at him and smiles, but William keeps his eyes on the ground. “Can we have a minute?” _

_ “Sure,” Felicity stands and kisses Oliver on the cheek as she leaves. William still doesn’t lookup. Oliver leans against the wall for a moment before stepping forward to sit in front of his son.  _

_ “How are you doing?” he asks slowly, his throat feeling scratchy. William glances at the door.  _

_ “Is Felicity coming back?” _

_ “In a bit.” Oliver rubs his lips together. “I wanted to talk to you.” _

_ “The bad man,” William begins slowly, “said you’re my dad.” _

_ “Yeah,” he said, forcibly clearing his throat. “What else did the bad man say?” _

_ “That you kill people. You killed his dad, and you were going to kill me, and mom, and everyone you loved. He said he was...protecting us.”  _

_ “Oliver closed his eyes. “He wasn’t William.” _

_ “I know,” William muttered, looking up and finally making eye contact with Oliver. “He was a bad man.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to review! I love them all even if I don't reply to each one. I appreciate everyone taking the time to read and leave their thoughts! I hope you all stay safe and healthy!


	5. Chapter Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought it was time for a little more Olicity and a little less angst. Hope you enjoyed! 
> 
> And as always thank you for your encouragement, comments, and kudos. I hope you are all staying safe and healthy.

Oliver was stretched out in his new bed. The clock read 4:15 am. The light was on a dim setting as he read through one of the many parenting books Felicity had left on his bedside table. He had been skimming a few every week, and only found them partially helpful. There seemed to be no chapters on meeting your estrange son while he was being held captain by an evil supervillain who would go on to murder his mother. 

A sharp choking gasp emanated from the bed next to him. 

_ “We should talk,” Oliver said after he’d laid William down in the guest bedroom at the old loft. The sun was just starting to rise. Felicity had a cup of coffee and Oliver could smell the rest in the pot in the kitchen.  _

_ “Did you want some?” she asked. _

_ “No,” he said, taking a seat next to her. “Have you slept yet?” _

“Hey,” Oliver murmured leaning over and wrapping an arm around Felicity’s waist. “It’s okay. You’re okay.” 

She was taking deep shuddering breaths and sat up a little, gripping Oliver’s forearm. 

“It’s just a dream. Just a dream,” he repeated in a whisper, stroking her forehead. He pulled her into his chest and wrapped her in his arms. “Just a dream.”

“So much fire,” she said shakily into his pecs. 

“I know,” he said, stroking her hair. Oliver buried his nose in her hair and inhaled her smell. He stroked her skin. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“No,” she murmured. Oliver bit his lip. She’d said that every night over the last two months. 

_ “A little on the plane.” She extended her feet so they were resting in his lap.  _

_ Oliver ran his fingers on her bare skin, focusing on the feeling of skin on skin contact.  _

“Have I been focusing too much on William?” he asked.

“He’s your son,” she said. “I don’t think that’s possible.”

“You know what I mean.”

She didn’t answer, burrowing her face into his skin and thinking about the skin on skin contact, using his warmth and pulse to ground herself. 

_ “You probably need more than a little sleep,” he commented. Felicity just took a drink of coffee.  _

_ “You wanted to talk,” she said, changing the subject.  _

_ “Yeah,” he said, glancing sideways at her, but not wanting to push too hard. _

“Maybe you should talk to someone,” he suggested delicately.

“I’m really okay, Oliver,” she muttered. “People have been through much worse.” She traced a scar on his chest as she spoke. 

“People,” he began, drawing gentle circles on her skin, “respond differently to trauma. William slept for nearly three days. You consumed 10 pounds of coffee and insisted you weren’t the least bit tired.” 

“You put on a mask and a hood and ran around the city in leather.”

“Your point?”

“I don’t think you get to comment on people being in denial.” 

He could hear the tears in her voice and kissed the top of her head. 

_ “I love you,” he whispered, speaking to her feet, “And I know I’ve,” he took a deep shaking breath. “Pushed you away and made mistakes, and that I have no right to ask for your love. But I don’t know how to,” he gestured towards the guest bedroom door. “I don’t know how I can do this without you.” _

_ Felicity leaned forward, taking Oliver’s chin in her hand. “You can do this, with or without me. Because you are strong, you are loving, and you are loyal. You are a good father Oliver, alone, with me, with someone else, you’ll be good.” _

_ “I don’t want to be alone or with someone else.” He took a deep shaking breath. “You’re the one I trust Felicity. You’re the only one I trust.  _

_ She leaned forward and wrapped her hands around his forearm. “Don’t say that if you don’t mean it.,” she whispered. “It’d be too much.” _

_ “I mean it. I promise.” _

_ He leaned forward too, but she was the one who pressed her lips into his. _

“I don’t want to lose you to the darkness,” he murmured into her hair. 

“You won’t lose me. They’re just nightmares.”

“I just love you, and don’t like seeing you in pain.”

“I love you too,” she mumbled, falling asleep in his arms. 

Oliver heard the door creak and looked up to see William’s face half-hidden in the barely open door. He looked very pale. Oliver beckoned him forward. He walked around the bed to Felicity’s mostly empty side. He climbed into bed, observing their position in his oddly silent serious way.

“Nightmare,” Oliver whispered.

“She gets them too?” 

“Yeah buddy,” Oliver nods, “nightmares are normal after trauma.”

“What trauma?” Will asks while laying his head on Felicity’s empty pillow. His voice is a breathy whisper. 

“The island, Lian Yu,” Oliver says, frowning at his son. “The bad man took her.”

“I don’t remember her on the island,” William muttered, scootching towards Felicity and draping an arm over her side. His fingers graze Oliver’s stomach. 

“Blurred memories are also common after trauma,” Olver says, taking his son’s fingers in his hand and stroking them lightly. “But she was there.”

“Okay,” William says sleepy, as he drifts away too. Oliver looks at his sleeping family, tucked comfortably in his and Felicity’s king-size bed. He closes his eyes and listens to the sounds of them breathing. He takes a shuddering breath filing this moment away to be accessed at a later darker date, to remind himself what he fights for. 

He picks the abandoned book up from the bedside table. “Family of Survivors.”

“Often our instincts when dealing with not just children, but all loved ones who survived trauma, is to be delicate and gentle with them, to give them space as they regain their sense of safety. This is an important step in building trust and must not be rushed, but the danger is most families fail to recognize when it is time to push a little more and to be more hands-on. Because our children and loved ones who survive trauma are tougher than most people give them credit for, and we cannot handle them with gloves and delicate touches forever.” 


	6. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did pull some quotes directly from the show, so I feel obliged to say I don't own Arrow, the characters, or part of the dialogue. 
> 
> I'll warn you this chapter deals more directly with PTSD, but I hope you all enjoy and are staying safe and healthy.

“I think we should wait for Felicity,” William said, gripping the edge of the couch, trying to stay as far from Oliver as possible. 

“What?” Oliver said, voice distorted. A plastic bag of screws, nails, and other things William could not name hung from his mouth. He had been previously studying the assembly instructions for the new entertainment unit. 

“Or Riasa or we could call Mr. Diggle. Or Felicity’s friend Curtis, he seems handy.”

“William,” Oliver said, removing the baggie from his mouth. “I am perfectly capable of assembling an entertainment unit.”

“I just,” he couldn’t keep his voice from raising an octave and felt his muscles tense. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

_ It was so dark, and William could hear muffled angry voices somewhere outside. He was in the corner, as far from the door as he could get. It wasn’t that far, the space was small. One of the voices was angry. The other was a calm deadly hiss. The door flew open for the first time in what must be days and he couldn’t see. The light blinded him. _

“Did you not sleep again, buddy?” Oliver asked, looking up from the instructions. William’s nightmares had been increasing since the move, and Oliver had, on more than one occasion, observed him trying to hide it, pretending to fall asleep, and then staying up on his computer or reading. If it wasn’t for the archer’s sharp hearing the boy’s antics might have gone unnoticed.

“Can we just wait for Felicity?”

Oliver refolded the instructions and peered at his son. 

“We can,” he said slowly, “But buddy, there’s no rational reason to wait. If we did that, we’d just be validating whatever strange fear of building the entertainment unit your tired brain has concocted.”

“So?” William snapped, not fully understanding what Oliver was talking about.

“So that’s a dangerous slippery slope and can get out of hand very quickly. I can’t make you do something you don’t want to do, but William not being able to let me build an entertainment unit, combined with not sleeping. It’s concerning, and I think it might be a good idea to go back to the trauma counselor.” 

_ The arms that grabbed him were strong, pulling him roughly to his feet. He was so terrified he didn’t fight. He barely even opened his eyes, as he was dragged into the light of day. The boat dipped up and down underneath him and the bad man with the smooth voice held him against his body, his one arm wrapped around William’s neck.  _

“I don’t want to go back to that place,” William muttered. “It’s too dark.”

“Buddy,” Oliver said, trying to keep his voice gentle. “I know it’s not fun there and it might even feel scary, but no one there wants to hurt you.”

He shook his head. “You promised I wouldn’t have to go back there if I didn’t want.”

“I said,” Oliver clarified, getting lightly to his feet and taking a step towards the boy. “That so long as you were making progress you wouldn’t have to.”

“What progress are you talking about?” William snapped surprised to hear his voice rising. “Am I, am I not grieving right or something?” He backed away from Oliver with each word, angling himself towards the kitchen, thinking if he needed to he could run into his room and lock the door.

_ The bad man was saying something, smoothly, calmly to the angrier voice. William kept his eyes shut, but could still feel the bad man running his fingers through his hair.  _

_ “If I die everyone you care about dies,” the man said, forcing William to look at the other man. His lip quivered and he recognized the Green Arrow suit. He saw the bow drawn, the hood back. He saw the face. He knew that face. “Except your son, but if you don’t kill me, I kill him,” the man finished.  _

_ “You son of a bitch,” the Green Arrow choked. _

_ “William or everyone else? You choose. Right now.” _

“No William,” Oliver said, “you’re not doing anything wrong.”

“Then why do I have to go back there?”

“It’s not a punishment. It’s just to help.”

“To help with what?” William demanded, his voice getting higher and louder. “The trauma? The horrible things you did on the island.”

_ He recognized that face. It was his mom’s friend Oliver, the one who played action figures with him sometimes, who mom said couldn’t see them anymore because he was running for mayor of a place called Star City.  _

_ What did the bad man mean, his son? Why was he calling him this man’s son? _

_ “Either way it proves me right. Either way, it’s exactly like I told you” _

“Everything around you, everything you touch dies,” William yelled. The words cut Oliver like a knife. His eyes widened in recognition of what was happening. On instinct, he made to move towards the boy quickly but William took a big blind step backward, tripping into the counter and knocking off one of Felicity’s candy jars.

_ William watched Oliver lowering the bow. He heard the bad man chuckle. Oliver didn’t take his eyes off William the whole time. He released the bow and there was a rushing and a thwack. _

_ The bad man yelled in pain releasing William who ran instinctively into the Green Arrow’s arms.  _

_ He saw the wide panicked eyes look at him asking him if he was okay? He could only nod his throat too tight to speak.  _

_ The bad man said something, and he heard the Arrow screaming back.  _

William had fallen underneath the overhang of the counter on the kitchen island. He pulled his legs in on instinct and saw Oliver’s jeans and boots. But his head was obscured by the countertop. He watched in slow motion as the glass jar Felicity had filled with M&Ms came crashing to the ground. 

_ William kept his face pressed into the green arrow suit, his eyes shut tight. He felt gloved hands supporting his head keeping it angled away from the bad man. Protective arms engulfed him. _

_ “You won. Your son has his father back and he learned exactly who his father was, just like you learned who your father was right here, one these very same waters.” _

_ “What?”  _

_ “William’s younger than you were, so he’s gonna be fine, and you have each other.” _

_ “What are you saying?” _

_ “Which is good. Oliver, that’s good because it’s gonna be lonely without Mom and Felicity.” _

_ “No ADRIAN!”  _

_ The protective arms didn’t stop William’s ears from working. He heard a gunshot. He heard the explosions. Saw the fire coming from the island. He smelled the smoke. He let the gloved hands pull him back into the green arrow suit, blocking it out. He would have fought or yelled but his body wasn’t working. _

The glass jar shattered.  _ The island exploded _ , and William finally screamed. 


	7. Chapter Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone is doing well, and staying safe and healthy and not letting social distancing drive you too bonkers. 
> 
> Thank you to everyone for all the comments and kudos. I'm shocked honestly at how many views I've gotten, and I'm glad everyone is enjoying this story as much as I'm enjoying writing it!

“No!” William screamed as Oliver stepped over the broken glass, feet encased in heavy boots. He kept screaming and kicking as Oliver bent down and scooped him up from under the counter. “No! No! No!” William repeated pounding his fists into any part of Oliver he could reach. “No.” He tried to kick him but Oliver was holding onto him so tight he couldn’t move his legs very well. He couldn’t breath very well. 

Enraged he leaned forward and even bit into Oliver’s shoulder, but he wasn’t released. He kept screaming and kicking and yelling, till whatever was driving him gave out. He went limp in Oliver’s arms, spent, like a rag doll. There was a pounding at the door.

“Mayor Queen,” a voice yelled. “Mayor Queen, this is the police. We got a call about a disturbance.”

“No,” William muttered weakly into Oliver’s shoulder. Oliver glanced at the child’s limp body, not wanting to set him down. Not caring that his son was a preteen and too old to be held and carried he stepped back over the glass and opened the door. Two police officers stood on the other side of the door. 

“Sorry to bother you Mr. Mayor but your neighbor called about a crash and some screaming. She was worried someone might be injured,” one of the beat cops said, taking in the sight of the Mayor tightly holding his son to his chest. The other glanced into the apartment. Oliver stood back to let them in.

“Good response time,” he said. “I hope every call gets responded to this quickly, not just the mayor.”

The officers shifted uncomfortably. 

“Careful there’s glass,” Oliver added, ignoring their discomfort. 

“What happened?” the first officer asked. The second was busy taking in the details of the apartment. 

“Candy jar fell on the floor, triggered a nasty flashback.”

The first officer stared at him, eyebrows raised.

“Like PTSD in a kid?”

“Children do and can get PTSD,” Oliver answered. William whimpered in his arms. Oliver set him down on the couch, more confident now that he wasn’t going to lose control. He’d obviously burned through all his adrenaline. “It’s particularly a problem in the Glades, where children are more likely to witness violence. I would hope all this is covered in our police academy.”

“Oh it is,” the second officer said, glancing sympathetically at William. “Some people just don’t take it as seriously as they should.”

The first beat cop ignored the dig and directed his attention to William.

“William right?” he asked, kneeling down in front of the boy. The boy pulled himself away being reminded of what Adrian Chase said when he was waiting by the bus stop. 

“Are you hurt?” the officer asked, oblivious to the child’s discomfort. 

“I just want my mom,” he said in a whisper. 

“Do you want EMTs?” the second officer asked. He glanced at the glass and candy scattered across the floor.

“No, I’d rather just take him to his counselor,” Oliver answered. 

“I’d still like to ask him some questions,” the first officer asked. 

“No,” William said, coming back into himself. He was suddenly very aware of how many men were in the room. He edged away from the officer in fear. Eyes darting about. They fell on Oliver.

He choked. “I just want Felicity.” He pressed his forehead into his knees. He didn’t want anyone to touch him.

Oliver’s heart sank. He did his best to keep his face impassive as he reached for his phone. “No problem buddy.”

Oliver began to dial and the first officer used it as a cover to question William.

“Did he hit you?”

“What?” William asked, confused. “No, I hit him, a lot. I think, I bit him.” 

“Davis,” the second officer said warningly. Davis didn’t ask another question. 

“Am in trouble?” William asked. Had Oliver called the police because he’d hurt him?

“No,” the second officer said quickly. “We’re just making sure you’re safe and your dad’s safe. Someone heard a loud noise and thought one of you was hurt.”

“She’s in the lobby,” Oliver cut in. 

“Mom?” William asked hopefully.

“No, buddy,” Oliver said sadly. “Felicity.” 

“Right,” he muttered. He closed his eyes feeling a lump in his throat. 

“Did you want a police escort to the counselor’s?” the second officer asked.

“No,” the mayor said quickly, shuddering to think about how that would play on the news. “I haven’t called him yet, and I don’t want the sirens to remind him of the accident.”

The lie left his lips easily. He also didn’t want the police to wonder why his son’s counselor worked out of a secret government building. 

“Should we alert your detail that you need a car?”

“Yes, please. Officer?”

“Warret.”

“Thank you Officer Warret. That would be very helpful. Ask if Mr. Diggle is on duty. My son likes him.”

At his words Davis began to speak into the radio, as a breathless blond woman came rushing through the front door. She kissed Oliver on the cheek as she slipped past him to William. The child instantly felt better, once a female presence arrived. 

“I broke your candy jar ‘Licity,” he said with a thick voice, by way of greeting.

“It’s okay honey,” she said, pulling him into her chest. “It’s okay.” She stroked his hair. Warret cleared his throat and Davis left the spot by the couch. They made their way towards the door. 

“Car should be here within fifteen minutes,” Officer Warret said softly, not wanting to disturb the tender scene on the couch.

“I appreciate your help, and Officer Davis, you should really look into the childhood PTSD thing.” 

Davis didn’t answer but gruffly made his way down the hall. Warret tipped his hat to the mayor, who nodded back. As soon as the door closed behind them, he was on the phone with Layla. 

Digg arrived in ten minutes, and Oliver didn’t ask how many traffic laws he violated. It took a few minutes to coax William into the car, and Oliver noted with bitterness that a few reporters were already gathering outside. Someone must have picked something up on the police scanner. Felicity sat with William’s head pressed into her chest, mummering softly to him the whole way. It took longer than usual to get to ARGUS, as Digg had to shake the reporters trying to tail them. 

But William was talking to Dr. Frederick within an hour. Oliver recounted what happened in an undertone to Felicity in the waiting room. At her insistence, he showed her the bite mark on his shoulder. It would definitely bruise, and she could already see distinct impressions of each of William’s teeth forming. 

“Did he really say Adrian’s thing about your ruining everything?” 

Oliver nodded. “I think he was having some kind of flashback.”

“I didn’t know he got those,” she whispered.

“I’ve never seen them before,” Oliver agreed. 

She pressed her hands into her forehead momentarily. “You’re calmer than I thought you’d be.”

Oliver didn’t answer. Felicity squeezed his knee to stop it bouncing. 


	8. Chapter Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, let me say sorry for the update delay. I'm actually not sure how long it's been because I had to move, kind of suddenly, and between the packing, the relocating, the unpacking, and the delay in getting the internet guy to the new place, I've completely lost track of time. (FYI if you're curious, moving during a pandemic, not fun, and I don't recommend it.)
> 
> And while the unpacking and catching up thing might not be taken care of, I thought why not celebrate the fact that I am once again a bitch with wifi by updating an Arrow Fic. 
> 
> Stay safe and sane.

_ “I don’t want it,” William said, surprised to feel tears in his eyes.  _

_ “I know buddy,” Oliver whispered, taking his son’s shaking hand. “But it’s just for a little bit, so you can rest and feel better.” _

_ “I hate needles.” _

_ “I’m right here.” _

They’d had to sedate William. Dr. Frederick made that clear after twenty minutes of talking to him. He said the boy hadn’t slept in over three days, and that legally speaking their hands were tied. After calmly talking his son through the injection, Oliver had taken one of the hours of William’s rest to check in on Thea.

Upon his return he found Felicity on the couch they’d set up in William’s room. She was fast asleep. Her tablet was up and the screen was still bright. He picked it up and glanced at it, saw she’d been streaming the news. He removed her earbuds, and popped them into his own ears, as he sat down on the chair next to her head. 

“Interesting news today picked up by the police scanners,” the news anchor said. “Two police officers were dispatched to the Queen/Smoak residence today, where the mayor resides with his girlfriend, Felicity Smoak, and son.” A picture appeared, floating next to her shoulder, and Oliver recognized it as one of him, Felicity and William going out for ice cream over a week ago. 

“The officers were responding to a concerned neighbor calling following a crash and reported screams of terror. Officers arrived at the scene to find no one injured, but it appeared that the mayor’s son, William Clayton, was in the midst of what the police report describes as an “episode” following the smashing of a glass jar on the counter.” 

“The mayor has made no further statements about the condition of his son after the initial press conference, announcing his existence to Star City. However, if today’s events are any indication, William Clayton is clearly displaying some kind of disruptive behaviors, likely due to trauma following the violent death of his mother. We go live now to our cub reporter who is at the scene of the Queen/Smoak apartment building with one of the responding officers.”

The footage cuts to a young blond man standing outside, what Oliver recognizes as his own building and Officer Davis.

“Thank you Patricia. I am Grady Gaw and I’m coming to you, live, from outside the Queen/Smoak residence here with Officer Davis, one of the officers who conducted the wellness check at the mayor’s apartment earlier today.”

“Officer Davis, what can you tell us about the incident?”

“Like my official report says, my partner and I came off the elevator and you could hear the kid screaming all the way down the hall, bloody murder, like someone was trying to kill him. The mayor lets us in, calm as can be, and there’s glass all over the kitchen floor. But no one’s hurt. No blood or broken bones. Seems like a glass jar of candy shattered on the floor and the kid freaked out about it.”

“Any indication of violence.”

“No, the kid said he hit and bit his father, but if that’s true the mayor didn’t seem too bothered by it. The boy was really confused, kept asking for his mother.”

“Well thank you for your time Officer Davis” The camera focused on the solitary reporter. “The mayor and Ms. Smoak left with William Clayton shortly after the officer’s departure, and have not returned home yet. The Mayor’s Office has issued no statement about the whereabouts of the mayor and his family or the boy’s condition at this time. Back to you Patricia.”

Oliver turned the tablet off, pulling out Felicity’s earbuds. 

_ “You’ll be here when I wake up?” _

_ “Of course buddy. I’ll be right here.” _

There was a knock at the door and Oliver looked up to see Dr. Frederick standing in the door. He jerked his head and Oliver got up and followed him down the hall to his nearby office. The psychiatrist closed the door behind them, and Oliver took a seat on the couch his son was in just a little over an hour before.

“It was the move wasn’t it?” Oliver asked right away. “He didn’t sleep as well after.”

The psychiatrist shrugged.

“Hard to say. We talked about the move beforehand and I stand by what I said. All environments with you are unfamiliar to him, so you can’t expect him to draw comfort from one just because it’s where he’s spent more time.”

“So, it’s just a thing that happened.”

“Yes,” the psychiatrist agreed with a sigh.

“Then there’s no way to avoid it? Or stop it from happening again?”

“You’ve been through traumatic experiences, Mr. Queen. You shouldn’t need me to tell you the answer to that.”

“I don’t have flash backs.” 

“Currently,” the psychiatrist mumbled, flipping through his notes. Oliver glared at the man, not wanting to acknowledge the truth to his words.

“Then what do you propose?” he snapped.

“I want to change his therapist. I’d prefer him to see the grad student I’m training, Ms Fiona Fry. She’s very capable.”

“Why?”

“He mentioned hating all the men after the police officers showed up. He constantly asks for Felicity, rather than you, even in dangerous situations when you are more capable of protecting him. He attacked men on the island.”

“He’s afraid of men?”

“Not afraid but given his multiple abductions by men, the difficulty of separating you from Adrian Chase in his mind, and the fact that he was raised by a single mother, all combine to make him more uncomfortable around men. I believe if he was treated by a female psychiatrist he’d be more at ease and likely to agree to more sessions.”

“Felicity said something similar.”

“She’s a smart woman. Look Mr. Queen,” Mr. Frederick took a moment to rub his eyes behind his glasses. “I’m not saying your son will always be this way. He’s young and children can and do survive a lot. Just be aware he’s inclined to be on edge around you. Stay relaxed, keep things upbeat, and his flashbacks will reduce.”

“Okay,” Oliver said, standing up, recognizing a dismissive tone, and trying to hide his fury and being given no new insights.

“And also,” the psychiatrist added as Oliver opened the door. “Ask Ms. Smoak to check in with me when she wakes up. She missed her last five sessions.”

Olver swallowed, now livid about two things. 

_ He nodded to the nurse who pushed a mild sedative into William’s IV port. The drug began to work in seconds and Oliver felt his son’s hand go slack in his own. _


	9. Chapter Nine

“I don’t want to talk about it. I can’t believe he even told you,” Felicity hissed, angrily handing him a plate to dry. “What ever happened to doctor patient confidentiality?”

“I think for you to get that you have to actually be being treated by the doctor in question, rather than just making and blowing off appointments.” They hadn’t been home very long. William had slept at ARGUS for over twelve hours, before being discharged, much calmer and himself. Oliver and Felicity were cleaning up their late lunch/early dinner.

“Don’t be smart with me.”

“Look I’ve been trying not to push you but you won’t talk to me, you won’t talk to your psychiatrist. I’m worried you’re keeping things pent up.”

“That’s rich coming from you.”

“Are you fighting?” William asked, from his bedroom door way. 

“No,” the both said in unison.

“Sounded like fighting.”

“What’s up kiddo?” Oliver asked, turning to his son.

_ “I mean what kind of a woman, hids a child from his father?” _

_ “The mayor has said he doesn’t blame her.” _

_ “Sure he doesn’t blame her for making that decision back then. It was an understandable decision when Oliver Queen was in college but what about the last six years? What about after the Queen’s Gambit went down?” _

“Do I have to go see that new counselor tomorrow?”

“Why does no one want to go see their counselor?” Oliver asked, shaking his head in frustration.

“When you got back from the island, the first time, did you go see a counselor?” Felicity asked, tossing a dish towel on the counter. 

Oliver opened his mouth, pausing before words came out. 

“Oh!” Felicity said, pointing a solitary finger at Oliver. “Oh Ho!” 

William furrowed his brow in confusion. 

“That’s a no,” Felicity said, her voice victorious.

“Weren’t you abandoned and tortured on that island for five years?” William asked. 

“How do you even know about that buddy?” Oliver asked.

“Google,” both he and Felicity said at the same time.

“Who wants to go out for frozen yogurt?” Oliver offered, trying to change the subject.

“Ice cream sundaes, with whip cream, hot fudge and cherries.” Felicity countered.

“One small sundae split between the three of us, with two out of the three previously listed toppings.”

“Large.”

“I can accept those terms.” 

“I don’t want any ice cream,” William mumbled. Felicity scrunched her nose.

“I’m confused. Are you sick?”

“Buddy?” Oliver began. 

“I don’t want to go past the reporters!” William snapped. Silence followed his outburst. He touched his forehead for a minute, messaging a point above his nose that was tense.

Felicity’s breath caught at how much he looked like Oliver for an instant.

_ “The Queen family would likely have taken comfort in Oliver having a son. Someone with his eyes or a voice that sounded like him, in all those years he was lost at sea.” _

_ “I’ll give you that, it would have been comforting perhaps, but what was Samantha Clayton supposed to do? Call up the Queen family and tell them she’d secretly had their deceased son’s love child?”  _

“Can we just watch a movie?” he asked.

Oliver licked his lips. His shoulders tensed. “I’ll tell you what buddy, I’ll go get the ice cream, and then we can watch whatever you want.” 

“Okay,” William said quietly. 

“What toppings?” Oliver asked. 

“All of them?” Felicity said, voice going up at the end of the sentence. 

“Fine,” Oliver said. The fight was gone out of him. He grabbed his wallet and phone, kissing Felicity on the cheek, while texting Digg. He patted William’s shoulder as he walked past them out the door. John was waiting for him when he got off the elevator.

“Sundaes don’t seem like a good to go treat,” he observed, walking with Oliver across the lobby. 

“Yeah well,” Oliver said pushing the door open and holding it for his bodyguard. “William doesn’t want to walk past  _ this _ ” He finished gesturing at the reporters. He vaguely registered that there’d be good shots of him in the papers tomorrow, hands raised, like he was yelling towards the sky. He ground his teeth together as they got in the car. 

“Has he been following the coverage?” John asked, as the driver pulled out of the parking spot. “Some of it has been brutal.”

“Not as far as I know.” Oliver rubbed his forehead focusing on a point just above his nose. That always seemed to be where his headaches came from. “I caught some of it the other day while we were at ARGUS. It wasn’t even brutal, just invasive.”

“Can’t be easy for the boy. He went from an anonymous kid of a single mom, to being the estranged son of the billionaire mayor, with his face splashed all over the papers.”

“I filed all the paperwork to get him enrolled at Star City Public last week. He’s supposed to start school at the end of the summer. How is it supposed to be a normal school year for him?”

“I mean it wasn’t going to be a normal year for him anyway, Oliver. His mom died.”

“I know, but...John how is he going to be able to make friends if all his classmates are reading about him having PTSD flashbacks and hearing debates about his mother’s sanity on the news?”

John clicked his tongue, shaking his head in thought. “I don’t know Oliver. Maybe if you gave the beast just a little to go off of. Took him to a public appearance or something, gave some details, they’d back off.”

“The media is the problem. I’m not giving them what they want,” Oliver growled, getting out of the car to walk into the Sundae bar.

_ “Never mind for a minute that she didn’t come forward after he supposedly drowned. What about in the last two years? Oliver Queen ran for and was very popularly elected mayor. He proposed to his girlfriend, stood by her after the accident and paralysis and the experimental treatments. There is no way Samantha Clayton did not see that news coverage, and what kind of person doesn’t think that is the kind of man that deserves to know his son?”  _

_ William hit pause on the video of the news streaming on his computer. He pulled his legs into his chest.  _

Felicity was chewing on a red pen when Oliver returned. He moved to put the three small sundaes next to her on the counter.

“You should put those in the fridge,” she suggested. 

“Aren’t we watching a movie?” he asked, but followed her advice all the same.

“In a minute. I was just checking my parental notifications.”

“Your what?” 

“I installed parental software on all of William’s tech.” 

“You’re overwatching our son?”

Felicity glanced at him noting, but not opposing his use of the word  _ our _ . 

“I like Overwatch as a verb,” she said. “But anyway it’s not overwatching. It’s a common, to be expected parenting move at least according to all the blogs and forums I’ve been on since you got custody.” 

“You’ve been on blogs and forums?”

“It’s been a slow summer.” 

He couldn’t resist leaning over the counter and kissing her. “So what does parental software do?”

“It gives me his browsing history and tells me what percentage of times he spends on different websites, apps, and programs.”

“And?”

Felicity turned her tablet around so he could see the screen. Oliver leaned forward looking at his son’s search history.

“Some googling of his new school, and a lot of time on something called fortnight.” Oliver blinked. “That seems normal to me?” 

“I have never seen him play fortnight. He doesn’t talk about it, and he just mentioned knowing about some of the things that happened to you on Lian Yu but it doesn’t show up in his search history.” 

Oliver took a deep breath and paused before exhaling. “What are you saying?”

“I think,” Felicity said, pointing at her screen with the pen she’d previously been chewing on, “that he hacked the software and is doctoring the data.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops that update took longer than planned. My bad. I had a bout of writer's block and then things in life got crazy. Sorry for the delay and hope the wait was worth it. I've been itching to post a chapter like this for a while. 
> 
> I do deeply appreciate all the comments and kudos even if I don't get a chance to respond. So glad you're all reading! 
> 
> Please stay safe and healthy!


	10. Chapter Ten

Oliver chuckled, looking at Felicity, his eyes wide.

“I’m not joking.”

“It must have been too slow a summer for you,” he says trying to keep the smile out of his voice. “Do you need me to go out and find you a new big bad?”

“First of all, that is not a normal couple gift. Be a good boyfriend husband person and buy me tech. I mean team Flash gets their own satellite. But all of that is beside the point. I’m serious. He’s hacking the software.”

“He’s eleven,” Oliver said, trying not to smile.

“Not a great argument. I swear this code is so simple I could have hacked it at eleven,” Felicity mumbled, pulling the tablet back around to face her. 

“Felicity.” 

She cut him off. “I’m just going to install a little worm and anti-tampering measures to the software and if his stats don’t change, I’ll let it go.”

“Fine,” he said, leaning over and kissing her forehead again. “In the meantime, I’m going to go get him to come watch a movie.”

_ Search results of Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak proved to be fruitful in providing the context the actual couple had been unwilling to provide. Google gave him photos of the two of them dating as far back as six years, a few months after his Dad got off the island. The first seemed to be a picture of a younger hollower looking Oliver on a Ducati, with Felicity scrambling on behind him, pulling a helmet on her head. Her skirt and heels seemed inappropriate in that context. The headline attached to the photo read “Queen Courting? Oliver is seen escaping Queen Consolidated with a blonde IT girl.” _

Felicity kept one eye on the film William had chosen and one eye on her tablet. It was running counter algorithms and downloading William’s search history directly from his computer to her tablet, using mirroring programs. She made a mental note to see if making an unhackable parental software would be worth the money for her new startup. Halfway through the movie about a missing fish, her tablet dinged. 

She pulled herself out of Oliver’s arms, and he caught a sleepy William’s head, which had previously been resting on her leg. He moved into her spot on the couch and his son was now using his own body as a pillow. Felicity pushed up her glasses and opened the document. 

_ For the first few years, there just seemed to be pictures of them walking places, getting to-go orders, or attending Christmas parties. He noted the inches of space between them in these photos. It seemed like a cataclysm compared to the way they were now.  _

_ He hovered over one photo of them at an executive charity event. Based on the headline implying scandal, Felicity had been acting as Oliver’s secretary at the time. Oliver was leaning into her, whispering something into her ear, fingers lightly touching her elbow. Felicity was smiling, her hair up, eyes closed in a tight red dress with flawless matching lipstick. Their posture seemed more relaxed than in the other photos and though Oliver’s face was obscured, the smile on Felicity’s face dazzled.  _

Oliver wasn’t paying attention to the movie. He was stroking William’s hair, mindlessly, keeping both his eyes on Felicity as she bent over her tablet. She stood up straight, turning towards him, the tech held lightly in her hands.

_ It seemed they were internet official around three years after Oliver was rescued from the island. There were photos of them traveling the world, walking hand and hand in Paris, selfies on the Great Wall of China, later stolen from Facebook, kissing on a nondescript beach somewhere in the Mediterranean. _

Felicity padded back over to the couch and leaned over the back of it angling her tablet so Oliver could see the screen. William slept on, oblivious to their silent communication. The sundaes lay forgotten on the coffee table. 

_ He skimmed articles about their sudden return to Star City from Ivy Town. He looked at photos of Felicity, taken across a street, as she directed movers into a building. He recognized the building as the same one they’d just moved out of, the old loft. He felt a pang in his gut. _

Oliver rubbed the spot above his nose and held out his hand. Felicity wordlessly handed him the tablet and started cleaning up the desserts. 

_ There were pictures of them from the beginning of his campaign. Felicity in an “Oliver Queen For Mayor” shirt handing out buttons as Oliver shook hands with someone off-screen a few feet behind her. Photos of her standing next to him at speeches, snapshots of them walking down the street hand in hand. _

Oliver’s eyes looked over the search history more thoroughly. He’d googled William Clayton, Samantha Clayton, Oliver Queen, Felicity Smoak, Star City mayor, Green Arrow, Lian Yu, Adrian Chase, and even Damien Dhark. He glanced at the articles his son had been reading and his heart sank.

_ “Felicity Smoak kidnapped by Damien Dhark, after Mayoral Candidate Outs him for Corruption.” He recognized the face of the blond sharp man, imposed at the bottom corner of a picture of Oliver and Felicity under two banners, one for Christmas one for Hanukkah.  _

_ “Oliver Queen’s proposal to Felicity Smoak, followed by a brutal car accident.” Pictures of them on stage in front of a Christmas Tree, Oliver on one knee, a ring between them. Pictures of a limo upside down and on fire. Oliver pushing Felicity in a wheelchair across the sidewalk into a waiting car. _

There were articles calling Samantha psychotic, articles on children and psychosis. A few even implied the mayor wouldn’t be safe living with a traumatized child. His son had read editorials where ignorant people implied he should be in a mental institution. There were videos too. Based on the titles Oliver could tell they were debate and analysis videos the 24-hour new cycle liked to play. He didn’t press play on any of them. He didn’t want to hear his family life dissected for ratings. 

_ The engagement party was canceled. They were nearly killed at a secret wedding. No wedding or engagement party were rescheduled. Were they together? Were they not together? Had the miracle of Felicity Smoak’s spinal implant, been too much for them? More photos of them going nondescript places, that cataclysm of space between them once more, and an aura of tension coming off Oliver.  _

“Thank you for not saying I told you so,” Oliver whispered, one finger still scrolling through the articles. Felicity took a seat on his other side and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. He kept skimming, his hand returning to William’s hair. 

_ They were dating other people. But visitation logs and photos proved Felicity still went to City Hall to see him every day. Tabloids seemed hopeful of a reconciliation.  _

“What do you want to do?” Felicity asked in a whisper.

“I could always buy you a satellite.”

“Don’t tease.” 

_ Reports from earlier this summer confirmed. They went on a secret getaway to China. Somewhere in the sea, near where Oliver had been stranded. Was this it? Was this him sharing his dark past with her? The one that he had never shared with the press, was that past the only thing keeping them apart? Oliver was seen at Felicity’s building every day for over a week. He entered at night and left in the morning, consistently. The media considered them officially reconciled.  _

“I’ll have to talk to him about it,” Oliver whispered. 

“Do you know what to say?”

“None of the books exactly covered this.”

_ William stared at the last article about them for a long time. He read it. He refreshed it. He read it again. His heart was pounding. _

Oliver couldn't read everything William had looked at, but he noticed that William had returned to one particular article again and again, over the past few weeks. He opened it and was surprised to see a recent photo of himself and Felicity as the cover. It was them getting in the limo after the press conference. Their lips pressed together briefly as he held the car door open for her. The headline read, “Will Secret Illegitimate Son Destroy the Queen/Smoak Relationship for Good this Time?”

Felicity covered the tablet with her hand, taking it away from him, lest he overwhelm himself.

“I’m sure you’ll think of something,” she yawned, returning her attention to the talking fish on the screen. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello lovely readers! I hope you enjoyed that update. 
> 
> I love how excited everyone was about William's hacking skills showing up! I'm was bummed the show never had him going toe to toe against Felicity as a kid just trying to get away with kid stuff. That would have been AMAZING! So this is me trying to fill that void in my heart. 
> 
> As always I love and appreciate all your comments and that you take the time to read at all! Thank you so much, stay safe and healthy!


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: So I lifted some lines straight from the show. I trust you can all tell what I actually didn't write.

William woke up in his own bed. He remembered the ice cream and falling asleep on the couch, with Felicity and Oliver. He was surprised he’d slept so much. He’d been asleep for ages at the ARGUS place. Surprisingly there were no nightmares. He stood up and blearily moved towards his desk, intending to check his computer. He was surprised to find it wasn’t there. He blinked, processing its disappearance. He remembered leaving it when Oliver came in to ask him to come watch a movie. Had he left it open?

He walked quickly out into the kitchen. Felicity was nowhere to be seen, but Oliver was at the stove making eggs. William opened his mouth to ask his dad if he’d seen his laptop, but he saw it sitting on the corner of the counter, open to the article of Oliver and Felicity kissing as they climbed into the limo after the press conference.

“You stole my laptop?” he demanded, walking forward and snapping it closed. 

“Felicity told me to tell you if you’re going to hack software and make fake data you should make said fake data more believable.” 

William’s heart sank. Oliver waited for a beat. He’d looked into the software Felicity had installed. It was mostly designed for making sure your kids weren’t looking at porn or being recruited to the radical right. Truth be told, he’d have preferred porn. Porn he understood and could just repeat the speech his father gave him. This was completely different.

“She overwatched my computer?” William snapped. 

Oliver smiled, quietly to himself. 

“She checked your search history and didn’t buy what you’d planted there. So yeah, she overwatched your computer.” 

William made to go back to his room, muttering about an invasion of privacy. 

“Stop!” Oliver barked. William stopped on the threshold. 

“Sit.”

William was still too used to his mom’s form of discipline to walk away completely and knew from experience that walking away would only make it worse. He turned and walked back into the kitchen, putting his laptop back on the counter as Oliver put two plates of eggs and toast in front of the stools. He turned to get the ketchup as William took a seat. 

“So,” Oliver began grabbing the laptop as he took his own seat, passing William the ketchup. “This is new territory for me. And you’ve been looking at some pretty intense stuff, I don’t think you should see. But I’m going to start with what you keep coming back to.”

He opened the laptop again, and the article filled the screen, once more, sitting between them. “Will Secret Illegitimate Son Destroy the Queen/Smoak Relationship for Good this Time?”

“You know that’s just projection right?” Oliver asked quietly. “It’s clickbait. You’re not going to break Felicity and me up.”

“Haven’t I already?” he asked quietly. Oliver raised an eyebrow.

“What are you talking about Buddy?”

“I can do math,” William muttered, clicking back through his search history to articles about Felicity and Oliver’s broken engagement. “That was a week after I was taken by that Dhark guy and saved by the Green Arrow.” 

Oliver took a deep breath as the pictures came back to him. He felt a pang in his gut at the memories. “It was complicated.”

“That’s what you always say when you don’t want to admit something. But from what I can tell, it doesn’t look so complicated.” 

Oliver rubbed his face with his hands. “Buddy,” he began but William cut him off. 

“I remember you coming to see us,” he said. “Years ago before I was kidnapped the first time. Mom telling me you were a friend of hers. You guys argued in the kitchen.”

Oliver closed his eyes at the memory.  _ Samantha, there is someone in my life now. Please don’t make me keep this from her. _

“She found out after I was kidnapped and you broke up over it.”

“We broke up because,” he takes a deep breath, hating that moment and hating having to explain it all over again. “We broke up because she disagreed with how I handled you and your mom. She was angry because I...because I sent you away and didn’t consult her.” 

_ “I don’t care that you have a child. I can’t believe you have a child you didn’t tell me about.” _

“You sent me away?” he repeated, glaring at Oliver hard.

“I,” he swallowed. “I thought you and your mom would be safer if no one, not even me, knew where you were. So I asked your mom to hide you, and she did, and Felicity was still processing that you existed and I didn’t talk to her about it, and she was very upset.”

“She,” William was surprised to feel a lump in his throat. “She didn’t want me to go?”

“Felicity has always believed that families should be together...we...neither of us wanted you to go.” 

“And she broke up with you because of it.”

“She broke up with me because I didn’t trust her.”

_ Marriage is about inclusion. It’s about leaning on your partner when things get complicated. I don’t think that you know how to do that.  _

“She never objected to you. She never wanted you gone. She left because I screwed up and it took me, a long time, to fix that. But it was never about you.”

“I don’t want her to leave,” William whispered. 

“I know Buddy,” Oliver said, pulling him into his arms. “Believe me, I know better than anyone.” 

“The bad man took her. Both of them did.”

_ Her lips pressed against his. Her hand lingered on the back of his neck, gentle but squeezing and firm all the time. _

_ “What was that for?” he asked, almost breathless when they broke apart. _

_ “Just in case.” _

“But she’s alive. And you’re alive.”

“And we’re a family?”

“Yes. We’re a family.” 

“Then why didn’t my mom tell me? If this is so good and so okay, why did my mom keep us apart?”

“I don’t want to get into that William.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s-”

“Don’t say complicated. Explain it!” 

“I can’t!”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t know!” Oliver was yelling now. “She explained it to me once, and I disagreed. She didn’t change her mind, and…” he lowered his voice, with a lot of effort. “I don’t know why William. I just don’t.”

“So,” William said, swallowing, tossing his fork to the counter and pushing his hardly touched eggs away. “I just never get to know.”

“I can tell you some things she told me, try to explain what I think she was thinking, but it’s not a question I can answer.” 

“It doesn’t matter,” William muttered, he stood up, his breakfast hardly touched. “She lied to me.” He stormed out of the kitchen grabbing his laptop as he went. He turned on his heels at the door.

“They’re right you know.” He held up his laptop to emphasize the point. “Everything they’re saying on the news, in the articles the editorials, the cover stories, calling what she did selfish and unforgivable and they’re right.” The breath was knocked out of him. “And you let her die, and now I never get to know why!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably one of my favorite chapters so far. I love complicated feelings and William getting pissed at Oliver for things that aren't even his fault. I know everyone was hoping he wouldn't find out why they really broke up, but it seemed kind of unavoidable to me. And it's better her hear it from Oliver than anyone else. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed, and are staying safe and healthy and sane in these crazy times! Have a good weekend!


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this story officially has over 5,000 views, for which I am very honored. I'm glad you're all enjoying my take on William entering the Arrow family. Your comments have been very touching and I'm glad you're all enjoying. 
> 
> I know I say this all the time, but I love this chapter, just because we get more Felicity and William conversations, which are my favorite. 
> 
> Stay safe and healthy and happy reading!

“I think,” Felicity said slowly, eating William’s abandoned eggs, “That we look at this as good. He’s being honest and not hiding his feelings.” 

Oliver fixed his eyes on her, jaw tight and frustrated. 

“He must have gotten that from Samantha,” she added. He clicked his tongue and pinched a point above his nose. 

“Well if that’s how we’re looking at this, then how are we looking at you?” he asked. 

“You’re changing the subject.”

“Well none of the parenting blogs or books exactly cover William’s situation, but,” he gestured between their two bodies. “This is a standard relationship problem for once.”

“And you read up on how to handle them did you?” 

He gave her a tense smile, and she took another bite of eggs.

_ “Should be on the plane.” _

_ “I’m not taking refuge from 100 bombs without you.” _

_ “It’s more like 250.” _

“I don’t want to split your focus,” she whispered, finally breaking eye contact. 

“You don’t mind talking to me about dinner plans while I’m stopping bank robberies, but telling me your feelings while I’m standing in the kitchen, is going to split my focus.”

“Stopping bank robberies isn’t nearly as important as William,” she said.

“I know.” He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her. She leaned her head into his shoulder. 

“There’s nothing really wrong,” she confessed. “It’s just…”

“All hard?” he asked. 

“Yes.”

He kissed her temple. 

“I just like being with you and William. That makes it easier and it makes me happy. Even with my mother calling every other day demanding to know when we are going to stop playing house and get serious.” 

“Would it be easier if we stopped playing house?”

“Just to get my mother off my back? That’s a horrendous reason to get married.”

“William’s worried you’re going to leave.”

“You told him I’m not going anywhere right.” 

“Of course,” he kissed her hair. 

“Good, but it’s still a bad reason to get married.” 

“What’s a good one?”

“Because we want to.”

“And if I want to?”

She hummed a little, deep in the back of her throat. “Not yet,” she whispered. “Not no. Just not yet.” 

“Okay,” he muttered, bending down and kissing her softly. 

“I should go talk to William,” he muttered, breaking apart from her just as softly.

“No,” she said, catching his shoulders as he made to walk away. “I should.”

Oliver didn’t move to stop her, but she heard the loud clatter of plates dropping into the sink. She knew he wasn’t happy and could feel the tension radiating off his shoulders as she lightly tapped on William’s door. 

“I don’t want to talk to you Oliver!” a holler answered. Felicity registered it was the kind of outrage only a preteen could wield. 

“Not Oliver,” she murmured, letting the door slide open.

_ “Go!” John screamed behind her. “Go! Go! Go!” _

_ “Sam!” Thea yelled somewhere off in the distance. Her hands touched the railing of the airplane stairs.  _

William didn’t object as she entered, closing the door behind her. He was perched on his bed, laptop balanced on his knees as he rapidly clicked the keyboard. The clatter’s lack of smooth transition made her feel slightly nostalgic. 

“How’d you do it?” he demanded. His eyes skimmed across the screen. The disabling program and counter virus he’d installed were both still running. He still had the redirect set up to the fake usage report he’d carefully changed at the end of every day. From his end, things looked normal and undetected.

“Internet sleuthing rule number two,” Felicity answered, sitting down at the foot of his bed, “never give your enemy your secrets. Not that I think you’re my enemy, because you’re not. You're like my stepson, but my dad never gave him his tips and trades, hence why-”

“Your dad was a hacker,” William interrupted

“Is,” she corrected. “He actually is kind of my enemy, supervillain sorta person, long story.”

“He’s the Calculator,” a deep male voice called from the other room.

“Don’t call him that and no eavesdropping!” 

“The Calculator,” William repeated, “I remember reading about him.”

“I swear that name,” Felicity said, squeezing her eyes together for a moment. 

“He tried to destroy the internet!”

“Yes well, questionable career choices aside, he had some pretty wicked firewalls and anti-hacking software installed on all my tech as a kid, none which I ever figured out how to break, so, no, I’m not going to tell you how I, as your dad would say, overwatched your computer.” 

He narrowed his eyes at Felicity. He’d referred to it the same way less than an hour ago. He was too distracted to notice he wasn’t bothered by her calling Oliver his dad. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked softly, playing with the bedspread.

“You’re not my mom.”

_ “No, I have to find William!” _

_ “Samantha stop!” _

“Obviously,” she answered. “And I’m not trying to be. It’s just you went through a lot of trouble to hide this, and I just want to know why you didn’t think you could come to us with this.”

“Because you wouldn’t tell me. You’d just say it’s complicated.”

“It is complicated though William, and I’m not saying that as an excuse,” she added quickly as he opened his mouth in fury. “But the stuff you read online, that isn’t even the whole story.”

“It’s easy to piece it together when you know the secrets the press doesn’t have.” He turned the laptop around to show her. There was a tabloid photo taken outside Queen Consolidated years ago, taken with a zoom lens, from a distance. A younger her, with long blond hair, was sitting in the back of an ambulance, blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Oliver was standing over a foot away from her, arm extended fingers gripping her shoulder tightly. 

“Queen Abandons Mother’s Hearing to Comfort Recently Kidnapped Secretary: Is Oliver Queen in love?” It was the night the Count had threatened to overdose her. 

“The article says,” William continued. “That you were saved by the Vigilante who put three arrows in the chest of the drug dealer who took you, before letting him fall to his death.”

“Should you be reading something so violent?”

“Dad saved you,” William said. “He left his mother’s hearing to go to your rescue because he was being a hero. He killed someone for the first time that year because he’d threatened you. He got to the scene so quickly, dressed as himself, because he’d been there, as the Arrow.”

Felicity looked at William sadly, she glanced at the door, but couldn’t hear Oliver moving on the other side of it. She prayed he was upstairs and hadn’t heard William finally refer to him as Dad. She didn’t want the first time he heard those words to be with anger or malice. Nor did she want to draw William’s attention to his phrasing.

“Yes,” she said. “That’s what happened.”

“He’s been in love with you for…” William cast his mind around trying to find a number. Had they known each other before the boat went down?

“A long time,” she finished, “We’ve been in love a long time.”

“Then why aren’t you married?”

“William,” Felicity said, taking his face in her hands. “Right now you are confused. Your whole family life has been turned upside down, and you’re looking around desperately for something solid to latch onto, so you can find your way right side up again. I understand you want stability, but believe me when I say, your dad and I don’t need to be married to be stable. I am not going anywhere.”

“But if Dad dies,” his voice came out higher pitched than he’d intended it. He’d been unaware of how terrified he was of that. 

_ “You’ll die if you don’t get on the damn plane!” Thea screams, as Felicity’s feet shakily make their way up the stairs into the useless plane. She knows Thea isn’t talking to her, but nonetheless, her feet don’t feel connected to her body as she climbs.  _

_ “Samantha!” Thea’s last scream cuts through the air.  _

Felicity pulled William into her tightly. The very idea has left her trembling. “As terrifying and horrible as that would be,” she whispered into his hair. “It’d be okay.”

“I don’t want to go live with my grandparents,” he said in a rush. He squeezed his eyes shut trying to block out the memory of his grandfather saying disparaging things about “the gays” as he called them, and the small part of William’s heart that had drawn away in pain and shame that day. He had never been able to explain why. Felicity squeezed him tighter and he wondered if she’d read his mind.

“I won’t let that happen,” she whispered into his scalp. “I will back your dad, try to keep him safe, and if google forbid I fail, I won’t let them take you.”

_ She fell on her way into the plane. Crashed to the ground and felt Dinah pulling her fully in. The explosions were deafening. Diggle barely made it, bleeding. She made eye contact with him, as the plane shook and shuddered. He shook his head.  _


	13. Chapter Thirteen

“Knock, knock Mr. Mayor,” said a chipper voice, at the same time the owner of said voice knocked on his door. Oliver looked up to see his PR expert waiting outside his office. His heart sank. Though they’d had an appointment he wasn’t prepared for the massive pile of papers she’d brought. 

“Hi Peggy,” Oliver said, standing up to shake her hand. “How’s the family?”

“Wonderful,” she answered, taking a seat and placing a large binder on his desk. “And yours?”

“Fine,” Oliver said, voice tight. Peggy raised an eyebrow.

“So,” Peggy began handing him a packet. “Fourth of July. Lots of City hall events for the parades and fireworks.”

“Wonderful,” he said, keeping his voice neutral as he flipped through the packet. 

“Very family-friendly events,” Peggy said, eyes fixed on Oliver. He glanced from the packet to her face. 

“Star City Citizens are going to be very happy to hear that.”

“Reporters still camped outside your house?” she pressed.

“Peggy,” Oliver said, dropping the papers and sighing.

“A couple of photos of William, Felicity, and you at the parade, people see them behind you during the celebrations, and we let some of the City Hall photographers get a couple of nontabloid shots of some family time, might go a long way towards normalizing this little…” she trailed off.

“Scandal?”

“I don’t like calling children scandals,” she said tersely. Oliver’s appreciation for her doubled. 

“Peggy,” he said, “I understand, but I don’t want to push him.” He didn’t want to think about William and fireworks. He’d already been debating if he could get out of bringing Felicity.  _ The loud bangs made the boat rock and Oliver could feel it in his teeth. He looked out and saw the island exploding. His heart sank as he pictured Felicity, Thea, Digg, his friends running for cover through the trees. He could imagine explosions knocking them off their feet, bodies flying through the air. He pulled William into him, shielding his eyes.  _

“Oliver,” she said, for once forgoing formalities. “I don’t know what I’d do if it was my son,” she shuddered at the thoughts. “I know you’re in unchartered territories here.”

Oliver privately thought she had no idea just how unchartered. 

“And I know you’ve been dealing with the press for your entire life.”

“Yes,” Oliver said, leaning forward, “Which is why I know giving them more photos won’t make them leave us alone.”

“No, but it might go a long way towards getting William used to it.” 

“He shouldn’t have to.”

“No he shouldn’t,” Peggy agreed. “He’s been through enough, but the reality is he’s the son of a reformed billionaire playboy. His father came back from the dead and rebuilt his life with a gorgeous genius blonde and is the mayor. The press loves you Oliver, and William is just a new addition to your fascinating life story. We can’t make them stop, because, freedom of the press…”

“Which we love,” Oliver added quickly.

“Cornerstone of democracy,” Peggy agreed. “But that leaves us in a tough spot. You don’t want William to talk to the press, fine, but just having him out in the light of day will give the public an actual image of your new family, rather than leaving the media to speculate wildly. Whatever they’re coming up with has to be worse than the reality.”

Not actually. 

“I’ll think about,” Oliver conceded. 

“Talk to Felicity about it,” Peggy said, standing and handing Oliver the massive pile of papers. “That’s the schedule and the proposed press policy. Twenty feet of space and no questions, photos only.” 

“You need this much paper to say that?” Oliver asked, thumbing through it. 

“Take it up with your environmental policymakers.” She paused on her way out. “And you might want to consider an exclusive interview with Ginger Boi.”

“Why?”

“Ginger’s editorials have been sympathetic, not surprising giving her history.” 

“I noticed that, but why would I give any kind of interview about my family?”

“To get facts out there, rather than wild speculation, hopefully before William starts school.” 

_ His fingers remembered Thea’s barely there pulse. His ears remembered Samantha taking a last shuddering breath, going slack in his arms. His throat was bleeding as he ran through the woods, and fires, screaming. _

_ “FELICITY!”  _

“Hey,” Felicity’s chipper voice greeted him as he came in the front door hours later. He took note of her apron and braced himself. William was sitting at the counter, watching Felicity dubiously. His eyes kept drifting between her and the fire extinguisher on the wall. The TV was playing a muted baseball game that was completely forgotten. 

“What’s going on?” Oliver asked hesitantly, approaching softly. 

“She’s cooking,” William whispered, and Oliver patted his arms understandingly. 

“I thought I would make dinner tonight, since you were at work all day, while we were at home.”

“Where’s Raisa?” Oliver asked, trying to keep his voice light.

“She wasn’t feeling well so I gave her the day off. I’m perfectly capable of making dinner. It’s been going fine.”

Oliver glanced at William, who shook his head, eyes slightly wide. 

“Behold!” Felicity declared, placing a plate full of misshapen lumps before them. “Pancakes.” 

_ “Oliver!” Her voice was hoarse. He almost didn’t hear it over his own yells and pounding heartbeat. But he rounded the corner and saw her, covered in soot and long dried blood. _

“Looks, great.” He said, keeping his voice measured. “Right buddy?”

“Especially with lots of syrup on top?” William said, voice slightly raised. 

“Syrup!” Felicity said, turning to the pantry. As soon as her back was turned Oliver took a bite. William looked at him hopefully. Oliver held the food in his mouth for a beat, swallowed, and shook his head at his son. William’s eyes were widened. 

“You know I’m actually not that hungry,” he lied, making to grab his laptop. Felicity turned around and noticed the missing bite. 

“That bad?” she asked, thunking the syrup down on the counter. “But it’s basically baking, and that’s chemistry. I can do chemistry.”

“I’m sure you can,” Oliver said, “Just maybe not the kind with the stovetop.” 

“Can you make pancakes with a bunsen burner?” 

“Or you could make pancakes by going to a diner and telling a waitress you want pancakes,” William suggested.

“Or I could make them,” Oliver added. 

_ “Are you okay?” he demanded, rushing towards her. “Are you hurt? Did he hurt you?”  _

_ Felicity didn’t answer. She pulled him into her arms around him the second he was in reach, burying her face in his chest, fingers on the nape of his neck. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders protectively, breathing in the smell of her hair. Underneath the soot and smoke and blood, he could just make out her scent.  _

“But the point was me helping,” she huffed, tossing the pancakes in the trash. Oliver noticed it was very full of failed attempts. “You’ve been at work all day.”

“So have you,” Oliver pointed out. 

“Hardly,” she scoffed. William picked up his laptop. 

“Just call me when dinner’s ready.”

“You’re grounded for hacking. Leave the laptop,” Oliver reminded him. His son huffed but left the device on the counter to go read. 

“Working on the startup is not a hardly,” Oliver said, crossing into the kitchen and wrapping his arms around her. 

“It is when there’s no programming involved, no hacking or tech or anything, just arguing with Curtis about names and filing paperwork with lawyers.” 

“All normal parts of a startup.”

“But I want the programming. The excitement of the adventure. Fingers flying over the keyboard and doing amazing things that only I can do.”

“That sounds more like crime-fighting than startup founding. You’re sure you don’t want a new supervillain?”

“Even if I did, it’s not like you can go buy me one. All the criminals are on vacation for the summer.” She braced herself on the countertop. “Thank god. I can’t imagine trying to deal with a supervillain and…” she trailed off, glancing at William’s door. Oliver noticed it was still open a crack. “Not that I’m not happy about it because I am, you know that. It’s just very hard to the vigilante stuff and the normal stuff. Even though the vigilante thing is normal for us it’s just-”

He cut her off with a gentle kiss on the lips.

“Chinese?” he asked when they broke apart. 

“Fine,” she said, moving to start cleaning up. 

_ He trembled in her arms and was surprised to find tears stinging his eyes.  _

“I wanted to talk to you about something,” he said, rolling up his sleeves and starting on the dishes. 

“Yeah?”

He jerked his head towards his briefcase. “Peggy-”

“PR Peggy?” 

“Yes PR Peggy, came into the office about the fourth of July today.”

“I figured that conversation was coming soon. I’m fine going. I know you’re worried about the fireworks and the explosions, but I’ll be fine.”

“She wants William to come,” he slowly, watching her reaction carefully. “She also wants me to do an interview with Ginger Boi.”

“Oh I love Ginger, she was one of the first opinion writers to publish a positive article on the hood, and called the board at Palmer Tech sexist money-grabbing pigs after they fired me.”

“And she is apparently the most sympathetic reporter towards William’s situation.”

“So?” An interview seemed logical to her. 

“I don’t even know if I’m comfortable with the City Hall photographers to get pictures of us during a firework display or the picnic. I can’t give an interview and let them ask me all kinds of prying questions about him.”

“So you don’t want him to go to the fourth of July thing?”

“What fourth of July thing?” William asked, sticking his head out of his bedroom. 

Oliver cursed to himself. He thought they were talking quietly enough. 

“Eavesdropping now?” Felicity said, as William came back into the kitchen. 

“You took my laptop,” he muttered. “Not much else to do.”

“Books,” Felicity said.

“Video Games,” Oliver said at the same time. “Or books,” he added when Felicity shot him a look. William crossed his arms staring at them.

“What fourth of July thing?” he repeated.

“It’s just a City Hall thing,” Oliver muttered, suddenly unable to look at his son. 

“For the Fourth?”

“Yeah,” Felicity said suddenly, cutting in. “They do a picnic and a parade every year and fireworks at night, and your dad and I were wondering if you want to go?” 

“Were you?” William asked, looking doubtfully at his father’s back. 

“The PR people thought-” Oliver began but Felicity cut him off.

“Ah bah bah bah.” She stepped forward taking William’s shoulders in her hands.

“Oh, so they just want the photos for the press because of the mayor thing or whatever.”

“Yes,” Felicity said calmly, “The PR people want the pictures, and that is an element to consider, but not,” she said turning and grabbing Oliver’s arm and forcing him to turn around and look at them, “The main reason to go.”

“And what is?” William asked.

“It’ll be fun,” she said, bouncing a little. “City Hall events are always fun. There’s free food, and it’s the fourth of July so they’ll be hot dogs, which we might never otherwise get William because Oliver refuses to make them, like point-blank.”

“They’re so bad for you,” he muttered under his breath.

“And soda. So much soda.”

“Soda?” William repeated perking up. So far not even Felicity had found a crack in Oliver’s soda ban. He was tempted. That plus he’d always enjoyed picnics on the fourth with his mom and some level of normal sounded appealing. “Okay,” he said, shrugging. 

“Okay?” Oliver and Felicity repeated at the same time. She sounded excited. He sounded disbelieving. 

“Do we have to do the fireworks though?” he asked. 

“Of course not,” Oliver said quickly. “We can leave before it gets dark.”

“Then fine,” William said, shrugging. “I’ll go.” 

“All right then,” Oliver said, surprised by the lump rising in his throat.

“It won’t be all cameras though?”

“No buddy,” Oliver hurried to assure him. “I’ll make sure that’s as minimal as possible.” Oliver grabbed the back of Williams’ head and kissed his forehead lightly. Felicity let go quickly not wanting to interrupt or overwhelm William.

The son managed to squeeze away from his father, feeling slightly uncomfortable and unsure. He went back to his room without saying another word. 

_ “Did you find him?” she whispered into his shoulder, not commenting on his shaking arms.  _

_ “Yeah, he’s okay.” _

_ “Thank god.” _

_ “But Samantha’s dead.” He squeezed her tighter.  _

_ “It’s okay,” she whispered. Her voice caught in her throat. It came out breathier than she intended. A few stray tears spread down his cheeks before he got them under control.  _

_ “We’re going to be okay,” she told him. He didn’t answer. She squeezed him tighter. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading. I'm thinking it's about time William and Oliver started turning a corner. Truth be told they probably started turning it a while ago, but that fight they had a few chapters back was ultimately good for them. You can't work things out if you're holding back.
> 
> I'm that everyone seems to be enjoying this story! I deeply appreciate its dedicated following, and love all your comments and kudos! 
> 
> Stay safe and healthy!


	14. Chapter Fourteen

On the morning of July Fourth Oliver woke up with an angry pit in his stomach. He’d been out late the night before depositing muggers, drug dealers, and would-be rapists outside the precinct. None of it had soothed his nerves. He blearily got up, while Felicity shifted sleepily beside him. He got dressed, thinking about the day to come, his jaw set. He didn’t pay much attention to what his hands were doing allowing muscle memory to take over. He was reaching into the back of his closet, pulling out his spare quiver and bow when the closet door opened and a confused not yet caffeinated Felicity, started laughing.

“You know that’s the wrong suit. Right?”

He looked down, realizing he’d put on his hood and mask and leather armor instead of the business suit Raisa had cleaned for him the night before. He pulled his hood up, instead of answering. 

“What are you going to do? Shoot some paparazzi? In broad daylight?” she asked, stepping into the closet and pulling the hood back down. She stood on tiptoe and kissed him as she removed the mask. 

“Not shoot, just,” he frowned for a moment. “Just leave them hanging from a net until the fireworks are over.”

“Don’t worry about it,” she said, fingers unbuckling the quiver, and stashing it back on a high shelf in the closet, out of William’s reach. “I already took care of it.”

“How?”

“Well I got the names of all of the top ten sleazy paparazzi in the city, and none of them will make it today. Three of them will find that their funds have mysteriously been frozen and will be spending a very frustrating day at the bank. Four of them never received the assignment email from their bosses. Two of them are going to be too busy arguing with their life partners, I don’t assume gender, because an anonymous source sent their search history with their favorite  _ adult _ websites highlighted. And one of them got drunk last night, didn’t get home till five am, and  _ forgot _ to set his alarm. People should really use alarm clocks and not their phones for that.” 

Oliver smiled, and let her take his bow. “You’re remarkable,” he said. 

“Thank you for remarking on it. Now unless you wanted media attention for a different reason,” she said, taking his freshly pressed suit down from the closet and shoving it into his chest, “I’d change.” 

_ “Don’t touch that,” Oliver grumbled. “Or that. Or that. Maybe just don’t touch anything.” _

_ “Please not with that again,” Felicity muttered, scrolling through her screen.  _

William looked slightly nervous in khakis and a polo Felicity had forced on him. He was pulling at his collar nervously as they got in the limo. Felicity and Oliver sat across from him, and William took note of their posture. Felicity had a hand on Oliver’s knee, and he comfortably placed his own hand on top of hers, locking their fingers together. 

“It’s going to be fine,” Felicity said. She looked very comfortable in a flowy red dress, suited for a picnic, but William noticed her heels and didn’t buy the relaxed image she was going for. “Just the speech and the parade then we eat and leave before the fireworks,” she babbled. “Right?” She looked at Oliver who raised his eyebrows at her, but before he could answer she was talking again. “And it’s just a couple pictures, just click, click, and we’re done. Shouldn’t take more than two minutes. Not that it won’t be fun because I said it’d be fun, but just a couple things, and you get the hotdogs and the soda, then-”

“Felicity,” Oliver said, cutting across her with grace, and squeezing her fingers a little tighter. “You okay?”

“Yep, totally fine. Why wouldn’t I be fine?”

“Because you’re babbling and that means you’re nervous,” William said a small smile crossing his lips. 

Felicity cleared her throat, adjusted her glasses, and brought her fingers up to a point behind her ear, face grimacing. 

The car stopped, and Oliver leaned forward kissing her temple. “It’ll be fine.” 

She’d been calm until she’d seen William waiting for them in the living room. She’d noticed how his knee was bouncing and how he was rubbing his fingers into his thumb and she suddenly felt very protective and doubtful of her promise that soda was worth the press. 

_ “Sharp things, Felicity.” _

_ “High shelves and common sense, Oliver.” _

The door opened, and Oliver held out a hand Felicity followed him. William vaguely wondered how she could walk in those shoes. He took a deep breath and came out behind them. For a moment it was just bright light and noise. He squinted and felt a firm hand on his elbow. He inhaled sharply and just barely stopped himself from ripping his elbow away from the touch. He made out Oliver, the tense smile on his face, but soft eyes.

Felicity was rubbing her hands together, painted lips slightly pursed and she took a few steps forward towards the stage. The car had dropped them in the back of it, and William could hear the noise of a crowd and the clicks of cameras from the other side. Oliver instinctively moved his hand to William’s shoulder and directed him so he was walking beside Felicity with Oliver slightly behind them. Felicity put an arm around the boy’s shoulder, squeezing him into her momentarily. 

She took a deep shuddering breath. “Okay,” she muttered.

“You want to back out?” Oliver asked. Felicity glanced at William, but he shrugged. He didn’t get the impression Oliver had been talking to him. 

“No, we’re good.” 

“Okay,” he said softly, kissing her head one more time. 

“Felicity!” came a sing-songy voice.

“Who’s that?” William whispered, leaning around Oliver to see a woman in a pink suit coming towards them. 

“PR Peggy,” Felicity muttered through a clenched jaw.

“Who?”

“Just smile,” Oliver advised. 

“And this must be William!” she continued, arms outstretched. She cupped his cheeks in her hands. “Oh, you’ve got your dad’s eyes, so beautiful!” 

William’s face was feeling hot and his heart was in his throat. No one had compared him to his father before.

“Hi Peggy,” Oliver said beside her. 

“Hi, Mr. Mayor! Happy Fourth of July!” 

“Happy fourth,” Felicity said, moving to embrace Peggy, forcing her to release William, who’d gone very still. 

“So happy you’re here!” she said, holding both William and Felicity's arms at the same time. “I mean it’s lovely to see you and all, but what a pretty picture this is going to make. And before you think badly of me remember it’s my job to say it.”

“I understand Peggy,” Oliver said. William felt flabbergasted.

“Only thing that would make it a prettier picture would be a wedding ring,” she continued glancing at Felicity’s bare left hand which was back on William’s shoulder.

“Have you been talking to my mother?” she asked. 

“A girl should always listen to her mother Felicity,” Peggy said before turning her attention to William. “Now darling, here’s how this will work. You’ll go up on the stage with Felicity, and your dad will come right after. A few remarks and clicks of cameras and then we go to the city hall picnic.”

“Where I’ve been told there will be hotdogs and soda?” William pressed.

“Yes. All the hot dogs and soda you want.” Peggy said with a smile.

“And where I’ve been told there will be no press,” Oliver added.

“Of course not. But I did have the City Hall Photographer come in. A couple of official, non-tabloid shots, that my office will release for copy tomorrow. Shouldn’t take more than five minutes.”

“I’ll set a timer,” Oliver almost growled. Felicity shot him a look. He was using his Green Arrow voice. 

“I see we get grumpy where family is concerned,” Peggy smiled, smoothing William’s hair. He stepped away automatically, feeling jumpy at being touched by a stranger. Peggy caught the look in his eye. He took a step to the side so he was partially behind Felicity. 

“Understandable,” Peggy said, turning back to Oliver. “Shall we?”

She began leading them towards the stage, but Oliver caught William’s arm before they went up the stairs. 

“If you start to feel upset or sick or even if you just get a weird feeling at any point, let me know, and we’ll leave.”

“Really? You’d walk out of your speech mid-sentence?” William said doubtfully. 

“Let me know, and we’ll leave,” Oliver repeated. He looked over William’s head at Felicity. “Either of you.”

“I’m fine, Oliver,” Felicity said, but her voice was a little higher than usual. “I’ve done this before, remember?”

_ “Is there popcorn?” _

_ “Somewhere. Did you want to go look for it?” _

_ “I would, but I’m not supposed to touch anything.” _

“They’ll be fine,” said PR Peggy, making forward motion with her hands. “And we have a schedule to keep, that is rather tight Mr. Mayor.” 

Oliver reluctantly let William’s arm out of his grasp, and he and Felicity made their way onto the stage. Oliver was behind them the second Felicity had them sitting in their chairs. She smiled at a man already seated. And William recognized him from the island. It took a moment for his name to surface in his brain, Quintin. 

William didn’t remember much of Oliver’s speech. There was the press. He’d been prepared for that. The bright lights of flashes burned his eyes, and his fingers found Felicity’s and squeezed. She looked relaxed, eyes on Oliver, and though William glanced at the mayor, he couldn’t look away from the people. He knew he should have assumed there’d be normal citizens but no one had mentioned them. He’d given them no thought. For the most part, everyone’s eyes were on Oliver, politely listening and waiting for him to stop talking so the festivities could begin. A few women looked like they wanted to lick him all over and would only interrupt their ogling to shoot angry glares at Felicity. And a couple of people, both men and women, many of whom had children in their arms or in strollers beside them, were staring at him, their expressions unreadable. 

This last group made him uncomfortable and his back straightened in his chair and he tried to focus on Oliver’s voice and Felicity’s calm presence beside him. 

_ “Hey, Oliver! William and I want popcorn.” _

_ Her voice was a whine that cut over the clangs of metal poles and something Oliver had called a Salmon Ladder.  _

Oliver’s timer went off but PR Peggy managed to convince them to stay a few more minutes. The posed pictures of them sitting on a blanket with hotdogs looked forced until Felicity had been unable to resist eating them, at which point William joined in. The sound of the two of them laughing about mustard had brought a smile to Oliver’s face, which the photographer captured. Peggy confident she’d gotten what she called the money shot, set them free.

William and Felicity made a beeline for the refreshment table before Oliver could protest. She dragged him behind them, like a misbehaving puppy. 

For the first half-hour, the mayor’s family went nowhere near the games. Felicity and William were too focused on eating as many hot dogs and drinking as much soda as their bodies could possibly hold. Oliver was tense beside them. People were coming up to them and Oliver made polite small talk, while his family focused on the food. 

_ “How can you possibly be hungry after all those hotdogs?” Oliver asked, dropping down from the highest rung or his ladder. William tried to ignore the way Felicity was drinking in the sight of him shirtless.  _

“Are you trying to make yourselves sick?” a friendly voice asked eventually.

“Digg!” Felicity said, through a mouthful of bun. She gave him a long hug, and William smiled at the bodyguard. 

“Hot dog?” Felicity offered. 

“I’m good.”

“Hey,” Oliver said, extracting himself from a conversation with a city counselor and looking at his friend. He scrunched his face, tense for a moment.

“Relax Oliver. I’m not here on business.”

“Lyla!” Felicity said happily, hugging a woman who was approaching behind Mr. Diggle. A small boy was holding her hand and bouncing on his feet. The women embraced, as Digg scooped up the boy. 

“Hey JJ,” Oliver said, and the boy giggled, extending his small fingers to Oliver, who reached out for him. Dig passed his son to Oliver with practiced ease, and William felt a pang in his gut. How could it be that easy for a three-year-old but not him?

“Doing alright there William?” Digg asked, clapping the boy on the shoulder. He nodded suddenly unable to speak. 

“Have you tried the games yet? We were just heading over there.” Digg continued.

“We have been focused on the food,” Felicity answered, downing the rest of her soda, “But we should head over there because I hear they set up an archery tent.”

“Is that a good idea?” William asked, glancing pointedly at the mayor who was bouncing his godson on his hip. “I thought we were supposed to be subtle.”

“It’s the best idea,” Felicity countered. She turned to John. “Explain.” 

“He misses.”

“On purpose,” Oliver muttered defensively. 

“So you claim.”

“They don’t weight fairground bows properly,” Oliver hissed. “They’re too light.”

“Oliver,” Lyla cut in. “If they weighted the bows the way yours is, it’d take the arms off all the children.”

“It’s not even necessary to go to the archery station,” Oliver pointed out, as JJ pulled at his face. He dipped forward, laying a raspberry on the boy’s cheek, distracting him long enough to finish his sentence. “If we make a point to prove that I’m a terrible archer at every fair it’ll look suspicious.”

Felicity waved off the concern, tickling JJ’s stomach. “Only if someone accuses you of being the Green Arrow, in which case we’d have bigger problems. Plus, I really want to go.”

“Why?”

“It’s so funny.” 

“Very funny,” Digg agreed with a serious nod. 

William knew his dad had lost the battle before Digg chimed in. The second Felicity expressed a desire, he knew Oliver would cave. It was subtle but William had noticed that Oliver almost never told Felicity no. He countered, and made conditions, promised to order pizza if Felicity and William promised to eat a salad, or let her paint the walls whatever color she wanted as long as she promised no pinks. In the two months he’d lived with them, he’d only heard Oliver say no to her once. 

He remembered an argument, from before the move, before he was in the habit of getting out of bed regularly. He’d heard Felicity leave. He knew Oliver was the only one home with him, and he heard the phone ring. He heard Oliver’s voice, mumbling at first, then growling and getting louder.

“Absolutely not!” he’d snapped firmly. “You are not going in the field, Felicity, especially not without me or Digg.” There’d been a pause. “Just wait. Raisa will be here in twenty and I’ll take care of it.”

He’d never brought it up with either of them, but it stuck in his memory as strange. He finally knew why, as they walked across the field to the archery station. Felicity and Lyla were at the front chatting happily. Oliver followed behind still holding JJ and still making the boy giggle every opening he saw. William and Digg walked behind them, neither of them speaking, though Digg did place a hand on William’s shoulder directing him through the crowd as they grew close. William was silently thankful. He didn’t like being close to so many people. 

There was a line for the archery tent, mostly full of kids sporting Green Arrow t-shirts and other merch. Felicity was practically bouncing on her heels, with barely suppressed mirth. JJ noticed instantly and seemed drawn to her.

“Lity,” he said, baby voice tripping over the consonants, wiggling as far from Oliver as he could. The hacker took the child in her arms, without missing a beat, and William again felt a pang at how seamless passing a small child around seemed to them. He’d watch them dodge the probes from the real estate agent, the hints from the PR lady. He’d even heard Felicity loudly telling her mother over the phone that they’d get married and have a baby when they were ready and not a second before. “So please stop harassing me!” 

He knew it was coming though, and while the idea of them married didn’t bother him, the possibility of a baby did. How was he supposed to compete with a little brother or sister who wasn’t complicated? Who didn’t need trips to secret military bases to meet with a counselor? Who was just theirs and who they’d always known and loved. No. He didn’t like the idea, and he didn’t even like seeing them passing JJ back and forth. Married he would love, but no babies. 

“You doing okay,” Oliver asked looking at him. William nodded in response, not trusting himself to speak. He listened to the conversations as they edged up the line, and did smile when it was their turn. They all watched the mayor take up the cartoonishly colored bow and miss his mark by a wide margin. Scowling at Felicity’s giggle, Oliver pulled William forward before he could protest and set up his shot. It felt oddly normal. Neither of them noticed Felicity sneakily taking a photo with her phone. 

“Just breath,” Oliver whispered, and William took a deep breath and let it go. He was surprised when he hit the target, winning a series of tickets. A smile crossed his face. 

_ “Robin hood?” _

_ “The one with the fox?” _

_ “I love that movie.” _

_ “No!” Olive said, emerging with the popcorn. _

The rest of the picnic passed in a happy blur. Though Oliver was constantly being pulled aside by various workers, donors, political leaders, and the occasional concerned citizen, he was never far. William at first was guarded, but after winning at the archery tent he threw himself into the games with Felicity and didn’t notice people throwing odd glances at him. Digg cleaned up at any game with a target, while Felicity and William did well with riddles, and by the end of the day they had a decent number of tickets, all of which was pooled together to get a large bear, that much to Lyla’s dismay, would be going home with JJ. 

As the sun begins to set, Oliver extracts himself from his last conversation, touching Felicity’s arm gently. 

“We should go,” he says, “Fireworks start in twenty minutes.”

William tensed again at these words. He was still holding the bear up to a squealing JJ. 

“I can drive you to the bunker,” Dig said, taking one last bit of hotdog before pitching it. 

“The bunker?” William repeated, confused. 

“Why would we go there?” Oliver asked at the same time. “Not very child friendly.”

“But very soundproof,” Felicity added. “More soundproof than the apartment.”

“How loud are these fireworks?” William asked, stepping closer to Oliver and Felicity. 

“It’s more about proximity,” Oliver muttered, pinching his brow and cursing himself for not thinking of this earlier. “Home is close enough to the park that they will be very audible and visible from our place.”

“Then I vote bunker,” William said, still not sure what the bunker was. Oliver protested again weakly. Felicity pointed out they’d had JJ down there in the past and nothing bad had happened, and William was much older anyway. 

“What would we even do down there?”

“Movie,” Felicity said, offering a smirk.

_ “I thought you’d protest more to us watching a movie on your precious babies. Your system is too intricate to just be used as a Netflix machine.” _

_ “Please, I’ve had reruns of the Dr. Who, Star Trek, and Battlestar Galactica going in the background on every slow night since day one.” _

_ William shushed them, as Oliver let out a strangled noise of protest. Felicity just shoved more popcorn into her mouth and returned her attention to the movie.  _

Fifteen minutes later, William knew exactly what the bunker was, as the elevator doors opened and the lights flicked on. 

“Oh cool!” he yelled running past the bows, arrows, knives, and costumes, straight to the computers. He missed Oliver looking surprised and offended behind him, but did hear Felicity let out a squeal of delight. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought we could all use a little family fluff as the holiday's approach. I loved writing this chapter, and it brought a smile to my face. I liked being able to write flash-forwards to the future for once. It was a nice change of pace, and I hope it was easy to catch onto. 
> 
> Thank you all for your continued support of this story! We're getting close to the end. I'm estimating about five more chapters, and I'm looking forward to giving them a happy ending. Enjoy your reading and stay safe and healthy!


	15. Chapter Fifteen

William stared at the tabloid in the checkout line. When Oliver had asked if he wanted to go grocery shopping, he’d agreed mostly out of boredom. Life without a laptop was no fun. As he stood waiting in the check out line for Oliver to return, he debated if he could sneak the tabloid onto the conveyor belt without Oliver noticing. He had run off to grab a few last-minute items Felicity had texted about. William felt his fingers itching, to grab the magazine and instruct the cashier to ring it up quickly.

He was about to make his move when suddenly the mayor returned to his side panting and deposited a box of tampons and a pint of ice cream onto their pile of items. 

“Sorry,” he muttered, noticing William turning red. The cashier, an older woman, simply chuckled. 

William tried to pry his eyes away from the tabloid but wasn’t quick enough. Oliver followed his gaze and his smile fell slightly.

“It’s a good photo,” the cashier commented, noticing what they were looking at. 

In fairness, it was a good photo. The three of them sitting at a picnic table the week before, on the fourth. William was alone on the left side with Oliver and Felicity on the right. She was stretched out over the table trying to take the mustard from William’s eager fingers, while Oliver brushed a strand of hair out of her face, without even looking at her. The mayor’s eyes were fixed on his son. 

“Very protective, what with being able to fix her hair without looking” William commented. Oliver shot him a look and he stopped talking. A credit card was swiped and the groceries were wheeled out to the car where Digg was waiting, leaning against one of the doors. 

“Felicity asked me to make sure you got her text before we left,” he said, opening the trunk.

“We bought the tampons,” William muttered, grabbing bags and loading them in. 

“She cared more about the ice cream, I think,” Digg said.

“She definitely cared more about the ice cream,” Oliver agreed. 

“That’s somehow worse.” 

“Perfectly normal,” Oliver said, helping with the bags.

“Wait till you have a girlfriend,” Digg added.

William looked at the ground not making eye contact and feeling slightly hot. Oliver glanced at him, processing his reaction quietly. 

“You never noticed this stuff with your mom?” Oliver asked, following William into the car.

“I don’t know,” William said, shrugging. “She had the groceries delivered.”

“What about girls?” Oliver asked carefully, as Digg pulled away from the sidewalk. 

“I don’t know,” William snapped. “Why don’t you have the groceries delivered? Or send Raisa grocery shopping?”

“Because you looked mopey and we needed an accomplishable activity for the day.”

“We’re still doing that?” 

“Yes,” Oliver said. “When you stop doing things every day it’s called being dead.”

William leaned back in his seat as they turned onto their street. 

“You never answered the question.”

“What question?”

“About if there were any girls, in Central City.”

“No. There were no girls.”

“What about friends? Anyone, you want to maybe go see?”

“No,” William said, hopping out of the car the instant Digg stopped the car. 

“Really?” Oliver persisted, following him out of the car. “There was no one?”

“No,” William repeated, pulling bags from the trunk. “We should hurry. Felicity needs ice cream.” 

Oliver grabbed the rest of the bags and glanced at Diggle who shrugged. 

“Don’t look at me. I have a three-year-old, not a preteen.” 

“When JJ is going through this phase, I’m going to rub it in your face.”

“When JJ is going through this phase, you’re only going to be a few years behind with another one of your own.”

“Not you too,” Oliver groaned as they entered the lobby. “We just purchased a box of tampons. She’s not pregnant.”

“I give it a year,” Diggle said, as they joined William in the elevator bank. “Two tops.”

Oliver didn’t answer muttering under his breath. Neither of them noticed William had gone rigid next to them. A year? Two tops? 

The ride up was quiet but the apartment was not. Chatter came from the kitchen. William walked up, taking in the back of a head, the owner talking animated to Felicity. The girl had gorgeous skin like chocolate with dark hair, colorful clothes, and perfectly done nails. 

“What about next summer?” Felicity said. 

“I’m not waiting a year. I’m thinking of the fall.”

“Can you pull it off that fast?”

“Who are you talking to?”

“Hey Iris,” Oliver said, depositing the bags on the counter next to William’s. 

“Hey Oliver,” the woman, Iris, answered. “Hope you don’t mind, Barry ran me up. He wanted Felicity to take a look at the programming in Savataar’s suit, and I needed to pick her brain about wedding plans.” 

“Always a pleasure to see you, especially when you aren’t bringing angry immortals or aliens along for the ride.” 

William looked at Oliver and let out a hissing noise. How could he be so casual about mentioning Green Arrow business in front of this stranger?

“This is William, my son,” Oliver proceeded, clapping William’s shoulder as if nothing happened. “William, this is our friend Iris West. She lives in Central City.”

“Hey William, I heard you grew up there. Me too.” She smiled at him kindly, but William took a step back. He hated strangers, especially ones who know details about him.

“Where is Barry?” Digg asked, embracing Iris with a half hug. 

“He left the part of the suit in Central City,” Felicity said. “He had to run back.”

“He forgot the thing he was coming here to talk to you about?” William repeated, confused. “And he left his fiancee here while he goes on a three-hour plane ride to go get it?”

Iris and Felicity chuckled. Oliver pinched the bridge of this nose.

“It’s not funny,” Oliver muttered, “I was hoping to hide this from him.”

“Why?” Iris asks. “William knows who you are and it’s fine.”

“You know Barry,” Digg cut in. “He tells people all the time.”

“He’s a cowl dropping slut,” Felicity added. “Not that he’d cheat on you, Iris. I just mean he tells people his identity all the time. He’s so trusting with those big puppy dog eyes and the smile. Totally adorable. And I should stop talking about my ex-boyfriend like that, especially to his fiancee.”

“You used to date this Barry guy?” William asked, his interest peaked even more.

“Yes, but William,” Oliver continued as though there’d been no interruptions, “Grew up in Central City, and hence is a huge fan of-”

There was a sudden whooshing sound and the hanging pendant lights rattled as what seemed to be a bolt of electricity zoomed into the room. 

“The Flash,” Oliver finished, running his hands over his face. 

A tall gangly man with brown hair and dark eyes was suddenly standing in their midst holding out a detailed piece of silver metal with pulsing blue veins to Felicity. 

“Sorry about that,” he said. “Cisco says he thinks it’s the brain of the suit, based off the wiring, but the coding is supposed to be out of this world.”

“And by out of this world, he means from like years, possibly centuries into the future,” Iris added, taking a sip of her coffee. 

“Oh fun,” Felicity said, turning away from them, and holding this new strange piece of tech in her hands. 

The man looked at Oliver with his bright eyes. “Hey, Oliver long time no see. Oh,” he pointed to William, who backed up against the counter and was staring at Barry with wide eyes. “This must be your son. Hi William, I’m-”

“The Flash,” William said, his mouth suddenly very dry, his eyes wide. 

“Yeah or Barry works too,” Barry said, nodding enthusiastically. 

Digg let out a snort of laughter quietly, at the look on William’s face. 

“You see,” Oliver said, holding his arms out to the side, looking at Digg, as Felicity was too wrapped up in the futuristic suit to care, “This is what I wanted to avoid.”

“You know the FLASH!” William screamed. 

“Do people think we don’t know each other?” Barry asked with a pout. “I thought there’d been some pretty public team-ups.”

“No but like you know who the Flash is. Like he’s sitting here with his fiancee drinking coffee like it’s not a big deal, and,” he looks at Felicity who is holding a screwdriver in one hand and the piece of the suit in the other, “And Felicity used to date him!”

“She also used to date the ATOM,” Digg added. 

“Felicity has a type,” Iris said, while Barry chuckled. 

“WHAT!” William stared at the hacker, shocked. 

“Barry wasn’t the Flash yet when we dated, and Ray became the ATOM while we were together,” Felicity cut in. “I believe at both junctures I was actively trying to avoid dating a certain superhero.” She elbowed Oliver as she spoke before looking back up at Barry. “There’s no way to open this.”

“Oh,” Barry said, extending his hand, which began to vibrate rapidly till it’s just a blur. He touched a pulsing point on the metal and it hisses open. 

“So cool,” Felicity muttered, leaning back over it. 

“I have so many questions,” William continued, plastering himself to the edge of the counter, trying to get as close to Barry as possible.

“I’m not telling you about my dating life,” Felicity said, voice muffled as she held the screwdriver between her teeth.

“No, Flash questions,” William said, waving a hand. “I’ll ask you about the ATOM later.”

A grin cracked over Barry’s face. 

“I’ll tell you whatever you want if you just answer one question. Who’s a cooler hero, me or your dad?”

“Oh you,” William answered without missing a beat. “Oliver doesn't have superpowers.”

Iris’ eyebrows shot up when he referred to his father by his name, but she said nothing. Oliver let out a huff of air, and Barry raised his hands in victory.

“Why would you ask him that?” Oliver asked, “What did I ever do to you?”

“You shot me,” Barry deadpanned. 

“You shot him?”

“In the back, and he heals quick. He was fine like ten minutes later.”

“Still hurt,” Barry snapped. 

“Imagine how much more it would hurt if you ran into a situation blind and got killed,” Oliver growled. 

“I feel like there was another way to teach me that lesson.”

“Wait you helped TRAIN the Flash?” William demanded, rounding on his father. 

“No,” Barry said. “We ended our teacher-student relationship due to his outrageous teaching methods. Because like I said, he SHOT me!”

“It was four years ago, Barry, you’re fine.” Felicity cut in.

“I still can’t believe you let him shoot me,” Barry snapped.

“I thought he was kidding.”

“I don’t kid.”

“I thought you were starting too. If you had been, it would have been a really funny first joke.”

“Arrow’s first joke,” Diggle cooed, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

“I don’t make jokes.”

“You make the occasional joke,” Felicity said, puffing her lips out as she talked and examined at the same time. “Just not about shooting people.” 

“Yeah,” Barry says, fixing her with an incredulous stare, “Killing people not actually a funny topic Felicity.” 

“Focus!” William snapped, smacking a hand on the counter. Barry was reminded of Oliver till he saw the boy was bouncing on the balls of his feet. 

“You’re the Flash.”

“Yes.” 

“How did you get your powers? Was it the particle accelerator exploding? What did that look like, because Mom and I were out of town when it happened? Were you doing anything particularly special when it went off? How fast can you run? Fast enough to move through objects, I know, but how do you do that? Also, some people think if you ran fast enough you’d be able to time travel, so is there any truth to that? And what about that time you ran through a black hole?”

Barry took a deep breath. “That’s a lot of questions, but let’s see. Yes, it was the particle accelerator. I was in my lab where I work as a CSI and I was struck by lightning that night. Then I spent like six months in a coma. When I woke up I could run really fast. My speed has been going up over time but yes I can time travel, sometimes by accident and occasionally on purpose but after an incident.” He casts a guilty look at John, “I’m not supposed to do that anymore. And moving through solid objects isn't that complicated. It’s when you vibrate your whole body at the same frequency as air, making you able to pass through things.”

“We call if phasing,” said Iris, taking another sip of coffee. 

“So. Cool,” William whispered, staring. 

“Barry has all the cool stuff.” Felicity chimed in. “He even has a satellite.”

“Do you want a satellite Felicity because you keep bringing that up?” Oliver asked, leaning against the counter on the other side of William.

“Yes,” Felicity said. “I want a satellite. I thought I was being really obvious about it.” 

They were interrupted by a ding coming from Felicity’s phone. She reluctantly set Savatar’s suit down and picked it up.

“Alert?” Oliver asked.

“Metahuman?” Barry asked at the same time. Both of them had perked up. 

“Yes to both,” she answered, smoothing William’s hair with her free hand.

“Team up?” Barry asked, looking at Oliver. “For fun.”

“It’s a metahuman robbing a bank, seems minor for a Green Arrow/Flash team-up,” Felicity said, showing Iris her phone.

“Come on Felicity,” William whined. He turned to look at Oliver. “For fun!” 

“Fine,” the mayor agreed. “Only because it’s getting dark.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So no flashbacks in this chapter, but there is a flash of a different kind (pun intended). I always wanted young William to meet Barry and for Oliver to be all grumpy about it. It was too tempting and cute for me to not do it. I hope you enjoyed it and that it brought you as much joy as it brought me! 
> 
> Thanks so much for reading! I love the comments and kudos. You guys are amazing, and I hope you all stay safe and healthy!


	16. Chapter 16

“Bunker still at the same place?” Barry asked.

“Yes,” Dig said, “But Barry I’d really rather-” He never finished the sentence. 

Logically William knew Barry must have carried them one by one, but it felt simultaneous. He was only aware of being moved for less than a second. His brain didn’t even have time to process what it felt like to move that fast. One moment he was standing in the kitchen. The next he was spinning in a spare chair in front of Felicity’s computers in the bunkers, Iris and Felicity on either side of him. Diggle was behind them throwing up in a trashcan. 

“So cool,” William muttered. Felicity was already clacking on her keys and didn’t answer.

“It gets old,” Iris muttered. She was tapping on her phone and tilted it towards Felicity. “What about this?”

Felicity glanced at the screen without stopping her typing. “I can’t see Caitlin being happy with blue. It might be too Killer Frost.” 

William could see the ice blue bridesmaid dress on the screen. 

“I feel like Killer Frost would say the same about pink though,” the bride to be complained.

“Did Barry leave already?” Oliver asked, coming out of the backroom, Green Arrow suit on, hood up, quiver slung over his shoulder. 

“Yep,” Felicity said, popping her “p.” She gave him the cross streets and he and Digg left. Oliver was muttering about how Barry needed to be more patient, and Diggle was saying he preferred driving anyway. 

“Do you think Barry would take it as a personal affront if I did green for the bridesmaid dresses?”

“Why wouldn’t you do red?” William asked. “It’s a more wedding color than green. It’s about passion.”

“And you know that how?” Felicity asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“Common knowledge.” But he fell silent for the rest of the wedding conversation as they waited for Oliver and Dig to get to the scene. William felt tense. He had noticed Oliver giving him a look when they got in the car, and now he’d said the thing about color in front of Felicity. He had to watch himself more carefully. 

“Overwatch?” came a crackling voice over the comms. Felicity and Iris both slipped bluetooth pieces into their ears without missing a beat. She offered one to William, who took it with trembling fingers, inserting it in slowly.

“Roger Green Arrow, you got the Flash?”

“You guys call each other by codenames over comms? Kinky.” Barry’s voice still sounded chipper even through a digital connection. 

“Flash you left preteen ears in the bunker, so watch it,” Oliver growled. 

“What do you call each other?” Felicity asked, looking at Iris.

“Iris and Barry,” she said. 

“You guys name everything,” the hacker said, shaking her head in surprise. “But you don’t name each other?”

“Well we do have pet names, but don’t really use them over comms.”

“Pre. Teen. Ears. Flash,” Oliver said. 

“When would you use pet names besides comms?” William asked. 

“Don’t answer that. Overwatch, why can I hear him?”

“I gave him a piece. I mean an earpiece, not a gun.”

“Overwatch,” he hissed.

“Guys, let’s focus,” Iris said. “I got word from Cisco, and it’s Top and Mirror Master.”

“See the villains have code names, but anyone who hacks into your comm frequency gets both your real names?”

“Overwatch, we’re focusing. What are their powers?”

“Top whammies you and makes you feel like you’re spinning, like a top.”

“Oh good, cause I was thinking Cisco was slipping into making sexual innuendos like me.”

“What’s sexual about a top?” William asked. 

“Overwatch.”

“Right, preteen ears sorry.” 

“And Mirror Masters can jump in and out of mirrors. Be careful because if he takes you with him, you get stuck there.”

“I can tell you from experience that is no fun and everything you say comes out backward so no one understands you,” Flash added.

“So don’t let her make eye contact with you and don’t let him near mirrors,” Oliver said. 

“Or any reflective surface,” Barry added. “He can probably jump into the floor if it’s been waxed recently.” 

“Great, well it’s a high-end bank, so…”

“Let me handle the Mirror Master then. You can take out Top, preferably from a distance.”

“I’m in a position across the street. Spartan do you have eyes on the back door?”

“Copy and affirmative.”

“I didn’t even notice you were here,” Iris said. “You’re too quiet.”

“Generally a good thing when being covert.”

“Overwatch, do you have a visual?”

“Working on it,” Felicity answered. 

“Are you hacking into the bank security system?” William asked.

“Maybe. Don’t hack, hacking is bad unless you’re fighting crime.”

“But why wouldn’t you hack into the system across the street too, so you could delete the footage of the Green Arrow?”

“I usually do that the next day.”

“Can I do it?”

“Commit a felony? Sure why not?”

“Overwatch!” Oliver snapped through gritted teeth. 

William was already typing. 

“He’s a minor. He wouldn’t get arrested for it.” She waved her hands dismissively even though her partner couldn’t see her. 

“This is so cute,” Barry cooed. “It’s a little crime-fighting family. Iris, do you think we’ll be like this?”

“Not right away. I need to adjust to the idea of chasing down a toddler who moves like you.”

“See right there!” Felicity said, “Anyone who overhears you right now, knows you work with someone named Iris and that you plan on having a family with her.” 

“Do you guys normally talk this much?” William asked. “It’s very distracting.” 

“There is a lot of chatter tonight,” Oliver agreed. There was the sound of a bow being drawn. “I have a visual.” 

“Same,” Barry’s voice said, suddenly serious. “Last time I trapped him in a reflective pattern. Are there any circuses nearby or mirror shops or department stores?”

“Barney’s is down the street,” Felicity said. 

“I’m going to go lift some mirrors from the dressing room. Oliver hold off till I get back, we should strike at the same time.”

“You mean Green Arrow, and I have a tranq arrow at the ready.” 

“Stand by,” Felicity said, as William clicked into the footage from the office building across the street. He could see his dad positioned, an arrow drawn, foot up on the edge of the roof, bow pointed to the bank door across the street. He clicked back, finding the frame where his dad entered the shot and marking the time. 

William could see a red blur slipping through Felicity’s screen, towards the bank exit. There were two figures, each with three duffle bags, stuffed with cash, who’d apparently paused to make out after leaving the bank. It took only a few seconds for the Flash to knock them apart and surround the man with mirrors.

“You’re clear Green Arrow,” Iris said over comms, and William watched his dad fire the arrow. He saw the blond woman on Felicity’s screen take an arrow to the calf. She let out a shriek and wobbled and dropped. 

“And the Top spins down!” Barry said, “Sorry I was channeling Cisco for a minute.”

“Sending a text to Dinah to come pick them up,” Felicity said, pulling out her phone. “So Green Arrow, Flash, Spartan, you’re good to come home.”

“Copy that Overwatch.”

The figure that was Oliver fired another arrow that clearly contained a grappling hook, and he soared away. William marked the time and within seconds the security footage was deleted. Twenty minutes later, Oliver was walking through the door. Barry was already sitting at the back table with Iris eating what seemed to be five pizzas. William was out of the chair and running to the door the instant he saw his dad. His arms wrapped around Oliver’s waist, actually almost throwing him off balance.

“That was awesome!” he said, pulling back and bouncing slightly on his heels. “And I helped! I helped take down Top and Mirror Master!” Then he was hugging his dad again. He didn’t even notice that Felicity had come up behind him, and was frowning at William. 

“We might be bad parents,” she whispered so he couldn’t hear them. Oliver shrugged. His son was hugging him. What was a little bit of hacking in the name of crime fighting anyway?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No crime is too small for a Flash/Arrow team-up. If you only get together when the world is in danger of ending it probably puts a big strain on your friendships, so it's nice when Oliver and Barry get together and just do some mellow crime-fighting. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I got some disappointing news this week and rereading this made me smile. I love the bickering over comms and the inappropriate remarks. I always find Cisco's names to be either not good or strangely inappropriate, so I couldn't resist giving him a little dig. 
> 
> Thank you all for reading, and I hope you are staying safe and healthy!


	17. Chapter Seventeen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little cute fluff for you, with just small tinges of PTSD. I hope it makes everyone smile this holiday season. Happy reading and stay safe and healthy, especially if you're traveling.

Digg held the door open and William walked in, the bodyguard close behind him. He’d been having a pleasant day, playing video games and reading a book when Raisa stuck her head into his room to tell him that Mr. Diggle would be coming to pick him up and take him to City Hall in an hour. Walking into the lobby now, dressed with brushed teeth and hair, he still had no idea what he was doing here, but he felt uncomfortable as everyone turned to stare at him. He faltered, and Digg walked into him.

“Come on,” Digg said, pressing a hand on his shoulder. “Just ignore them.” 

William stuck close to Digg as they made their way across the lobby and up the stairs. He kept his eyes trained on the ground. This was worse than the reporters. At least with them, he knew why they were staring. These people could want anything. There could be another Adrian Chase in their midst watching him. 

William was paying no attention to where they were going and Digg had to stop him walking headlong into a solid wood door.

“Hello,” said a friendly male voice. William glanced at him and saw a desk to his left. “You must be William,” the man continued. “He was expecting you. Go on in.”

William glanced at Digg, who just raised an eyebrow. He had to open the door on his own and entered by himself. The room on the other side was mostly glass windows, a solid desk, a sitting area, and a conference table. The city crest hung by the door, and Oliver was sitting in a grand wingback chair, signing some papers, with his ear pressed to the phone.

“Yes thank you, Donna. I’ll consider it.” He smiled at William, who stepped into the room, taking in Oliver’s office. He saw a framed photo of him, displayed alongside a picture of Felicity and a woman with short brown hair at what appeared to be a children’s birthday party. Oliver sighed, making noises of assent, the phone still pressed to his ear. William picked up the photo and studied Felicity and the other woman. He didn’t recognize her, but he did recognize the old loft. He noted the green streamers and a Green Arrow cake with candles. 

“Donna,” Oliver said, a note of finality in his voice, “I have to go. William is here, and we’re going shopping.”

William cocked his head. This was the first he’d heard of this plan. 

“I know you’re concerned about what the rabbi thinks, but she said she wants to wait so...No I am not just going to get her an engagement ring....because that’s a horrible birthday present. I really have to go. Okay bye.”

“That’s a weird work call,” William said.

“It was Felicity’s mother, Donna Smoak.”

“Okay.” William held up the photo. “Is this JJ’s birthday?”

Oliver sighed. “No that would be mine.”

William blinked. “But the cake?”

“Felicity picked it.”

“I didn’t know they made Green Arrow cake for adults.”

“Speaking of birthdays we need to go shopping.”

“I heard. Felicity’s birthday?”

“Yes,” Oliver said, standing up and buttoning his suit, before coming around the desk and extending his arm. William let him place a hand on his shoulder and guide him towards the door. “And before you say it, no I’m not proposing to her on her birthday.”

“But it’d be romantic.” 

“She’s not ready.”

“How do you know?”

“How does he know what?” Digg asked as the door opened. 

“How does he know Felicity doesn’t want him to propose on her birthday?”

“You’re going to propose on her birthday?” Oliver’s assistant said, perking up. “That’s so romantic. My husband proposed to me on just a random Tuesday, not a cute story. Birthday will be good.”

“I’m not proposing Jerry,” Oliver said, rolling her eyes, “And I know she doesn’t want me to because we did this crazy thing, called talking about it.”

“But it’d be so cute!” William said, turning to Digg. “John agrees with me.” 

Dig shrugged. “Sorry William, I spent years trying to get them to communicate. Anytime I hear they’ve actually had a mature conversation, I count it as a win.”

“Very funny,” Oliver said sarcastically. “Jerry I’m out the rest of the afternoon.”

“You got it, Mr. Mayor.” 

The three men made their way back to the car parked out front. William once again felt deeply uncomfortable at everyone staring. They pulled up in front of a department store twenty minutes later, and William frowned. 

“Does Barneys sell high-end tech now?”

“Nope,” Digg and Oliver said at the same time, getting out. 

“But I thought we were shopping for Felicity,” William said, clambering after them. 

“We are.”

“Anytime we try to buy her tech,” Digg said, falling into step beside them. “She insists she loves it and then we find it in the garbage or disassembled weeks later. She thinks we don’t notice but we do.”

“She’s very particular about that stuff,” Oliver added. “Plus Best Buy doesn’t exactly stock what she likes. She calls their selection simplistic and dumb.”

“So instead we’re going to buy her perfume and heels?”

“She loves heels.” 

“One year we got her a nice pair of Jimmy Choos. Those went over very well.” Digg opened the door as he spoke.

“I thought she wanted a satellite.”

“Tell me where to buy one, and I’ll look into it,” Oliver grumbled. 

“I don’t know. You’re the one with a secret vigilante bunker. How did you get most of that stuff?”

“I hear satellites are a first-year anniversary gift anyway,” Digg said, shoving his hands in his pockets as he walked. The two men and boy reached the edge of the department store floor and paused, looking around.

“Should we go straight to the shoe section or…” William trailed off.

“No Oliver did shoes last year, and Lyla always says you can’t get the same thing two years in a row.”

“Thea always said that too.”

“Says man,” Dig corrected and Oliver sucked in a breath, a guilty look crossing his face.

“Who’s Thea?” William asked but they ignored him.

“What did you get her last year?” Oliver asked. 

“Lyla and I got her a throw blanket and the Dr. Who box set.”

“I love Dr. Who,” William said. He stood between them, eyes darting around the store. Digg and Oliver both looked down at him then back up at each other slowly.

“William,” Oliver began slowly. “What do you think Felicity would like.”

“Well if you aren’t going for DVDs and shoes this year, she’d probably love a dress, earrings, necklaces, no bracelets though because those interfere with her typing. She doesn’t wear perfume, but would probably love something nerdy.”

“We said no tech,” Oliver groaned.

“Not tech nerdy. Nerdy nerdy. Star Wars pillows or Iron Man pajamas, coffee mugs with binary code on them. That sort of thing. Come on, I’ll show you.”

William set off into the store and the archer and soldier followed him.

“Is he a Felicity whisperer?” Digg asked, looking at the boy in awe.

“They get each other,” Oliver answered. He’d noticed their easy conversations and a shared love of things like Monty Python. It went beyond William being more comfortable with her because she was a woman. “They’re both wicked smart and huge nerds. He relates to her in ways you and I just don’t understand.”

“Here!” William said, holding his hands out in a very strange section of the store, Oliver usually breezed past. It was filled with novelty items, little figurines from movies he hadn’t seen, coffee mugs in the shape of stormtrooper helmets, and socks with the logo of every comic book superhero. “Not sure though if any of this is the appropriate thing to get your live-in girlfriend though.”

Oliver winced. Girlfriend didn’t begin to cover it, but he didn’t want to get into the naming debate with these particular gentlemen, as that conversation would only lead to more badgering to go look at the engagement rings. He didn’t think he had it in him to shoot down that suggestion again. His skin was itching to get to the jewelry counter.

“Doesn’t matter to me,” Digg said, stepping eagerly into the section, and clapping William on the shoulder. “You’re a genius kid.”

William smiled a little.

_ “I got you a present,” Felicity’s soft voice said. He pulled his head up from the hospital bed. Oliver was sleeping on the couch. He had been so consumed by his guilt and rushing memories he hadn’t even noticed the blonde leave. But there she was softly closing the door behind her so as to not wake the sleeping mayor. _

_ “You shouldn’t have gotten me anything,” William muttered, sitting up and burying his face in his knees. “I broke your candy jar.” _

_ “I’m willing to let that go, so long as you promise me that the next time you aren’t sleeping you tell me or your dad. I don’t want us to get to this level again, understand?” _

_ “Yes, ma’am.” _

_ “Anyway.” She pushed a bag with tissue paper towards him. “Like I said, I got you a present.” _

_ He pulled the paper back and a smile crossed his face, and he pulled out a shirt with the Flash logo on it, and a Quicksilver comic book. He smiled.  _

_ “I figured you had to like him,” Felicity said, tapping the cover. “He’s basically Marvel’s version of the flash.” _

_ “Did you get dad a Hawkeye shirt?” _

_ “I would have if he had any idea who that was.” _

_ She actually made William laugh, despite having been sedated for hours.  _


	18. Chapter Eighteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I missed last week because of the holiday, but trust me this is a wonderful chapter to start the new year with. It might be my favorite in the whole story, just because it makes me smile and addresses my deep love of coffee. 
> 
> It does however make me sad because it means there are only two chapters left in this story. I wrote the last chapter over the holidays and am still editing, but I just wanted to say I loved writing this story. It was my first fanfic in a long time and it felt good to be writing without pressure again. It reminded me how much I love writing. 
> 
> I wish you all a happy, healthy, and safe 2021, and fingers crossed this pandemic comes to a close soon, and we can all return to our lives. Happy New Year!

“Happy Birthday,” Oliver whispered into blond hair. Felicity stretched beside him, reaching out. He engulfed her.

“What time is it?” she muttered into his chest. 

“Late,” he said. “I’ve already gone for a run, showered, gotten dressed, made you pancakes, remade them after William ate them, and now they’re getting cold.”

“Hmmm,” she mumbled. “Ten more minutes.” 

“Okay,” he said, pecking her forehead and getting up. He made his way downstairs. 

_ “This coffee tastes different,” Felicity said, standing over the sink at the loft. Oliver glanced up from the paper he was pretending to read. His ears were really strained for sounds of William waking up.  _

“She says ten more minutes,” Oliver said coming down the stairs. The seven people waiting in the kitchen with balloons groaned.

“This is why,” Rene said, “You don’t do surprise parties in the morning.”

“John was the one who said it had to be in the morning,” Dinah said, shaking her head, and letting go of the balloons she was holding.

“You’ve never seen Oliver try to lie to her have you?” Digg said, defensively. Lyla cracked a smile. 

“I’m not that bad.”

“Energy drink in a syringe because you ran out of sports bottles.”

“I’m with John,” Quintin said. “If we waited she’d have figured it out.” 

“Can’t we just wake her?” Curtis suggested, then faltered under Oliver’s glare.

“Are there more pancakes?” William said, twirling his feet, bored.

_ “Maybe it’s the creamer?” Oliver said, sipping his own coffee. “They were out of the plain so I got french vanilla.” _

_ “Or maybe it’s because you switched my beans with decaf.” _

_ Oliver didn’t answer, just looked back at his paper. _

_ “Why do you hurt me?” she whispered, pouring her coffee down the drain. _

Ten minutes turned into twenty. 

“I’m late for work,” Dinah muttered. 

“And I’m covering for you at City Hall today. I have a meeting in fifteen minutes.”

“And as his assistant, I’m supposed to be there, to take notes.”

“ARGUS isn’t going to run itself.”

“If Felicity isn’t working today, I should really head over to the start-up to field some calls.”

“JJ and I are unemployed and can stay as long as you like,” John said, bouncing his son on his hip.

“Fine,” Oliver snapped, “just go. We’ll catch up at the foundry.”

“You had other stuff planned right?” William asked as Team Arrow filed out of the apartment.

“Of course I have other stuff planned,” Oliver complained, shoving the balloons into William’s room. Digg held out JJ, and William awkwardly took the toddler so he could help. “It’s mostly going to involve us watching a lot of Star Wars down on the big screen at the multiplex.”

“I didn’t know they were showing that today,” William said, adjusting JJ.

“They’re not,” his dad said, “Private screening. The owner owed me a favor, so it’ll be just the three of us. She can do her color commentary and line parodies as loud as she wants”

_ “Oh come on,” he snapped, watching her waste the perfectly good beverage. “You can’t even tell the difference?” _

_ “Yes, I can.” _

_ “No, you can’t, because I switched the beans yesterday and you didn’t notice.” _

_ “I KNEW it!” _

“That’s not a bad plan. She’d actually like that. It might be a little too nerdy though. There should be some level of romance if you want her to love you and all.”

“Yes well, I’m not exactly taking her on a romantic dinner with you there. That part comes later.”

“But what am I supposed to do?”

“Raisa will be here at five to watch you.”

“You should take her to that Italian place where you had that epically bad first date,” Digg said, trying to take JJ back from William. The toddler wouldn’t go, and he gave up.

“Believe it or not Digg that place doesn’t actually hold a lot of good memories for us, so no, not doing that, on her special night.”

“Is it special because you’re proposing?” William asked. 

“Yes, you should propose.”

“P’pose,” JJ added with a giggle.

_ “You did not know it,” Oliver growled, letting the paper fall to the counter.  _

_ “I suspected because in all your scheming and planning you forgot something very important.” _

_ “Oh, and what’s that?” _

_ “Chemical addiction,” Felicity said, tapping her temples. _

“I am not proposing. It’s special because it’s her birthday and technically our first date since getting back together.”

“But Dad, instead of not proposing, have you considered, proposing,” William said, taking another bite of pancakes and readjusting JJ in his lap.

Oliver’s back was turned. William didn’t see his head shoot straight up. He turned to look at his son, slowly. The boy seemed unaware of what had just happened. John had gotten very quiet, looking between Oliver and William.

“What did you say?” Oliver asked, trying to keep his voice even.

“I said you could propose.”

“No, I mean-”

“What’s all this!” Felicity’s voice interrupted from the stairs. 

_ “Chemical addiction? What are you talking about?” Oliver asked, trying to return to his paper. Felicity pushed it back onto the counter. _

_ “I am addicted to caffeine, my body craves it.” _

_ “You know that’s bad right?” _

_ “If I don’t drink it,” she said, “I get a splitting headache, light bothers me and I get cranky. You really think you could cut me off cold turkey and I wouldn’t notice?” _

_ “Alright, next time I’ll mix the decaf in slowly, over time.” _

_ “Why are you trying to change my coffee at all?” _

_ “Because you aren’t sleeping enough. We’ve been back for three days and you’ve hardly slept six hours!” _

_ Felicity raised an eyebrow, leaning forward trying to take his hand. He pulled away. _

_ “Oliver-” _

_ “No Felicity,” he stood up, pacing away from her, a crease forming between his eyes. “I don’t know what to do. You won’t sleep. William does nothing but sleep, and I am out of ideas! I hate that I let Adrian do this to you! I hate that he won!” _

_ “Oliver,” she stepped forward, and he tried to shake her off again. She grabbed his face, not letting him. “He did not win. I promise, it may be horrible now, but it will get better. You’ll see.” She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him.  _

_ “Unless you switch my coffee again, then you won’t live to see the sunset.” _

“Dad made pancakes,” William said, holding JJ up as the toddler held out his chubby hands to Felicity. “And there was a morning surprise party planned, but everyone left because you slept too late.”

Felicity looked at William for a long hard moment, before stepping forward and accepting the squirming toddler. 

“Dad made pancakes?” she repeated, a small smile passing over her lips. 

“That’s what I said,” he confirmed. He looked around the room at all the adults staring at him. “What?”

“Nothing,” Oliver said, clearing his throat, a smile twitching across his face for a moment. “Felicity, did you want coffee?”


	19. Chapter Nineteen

The candlelight made her hair sparkle. Oliver loved that. He smiled at her nervously as the waitress poured them each a glass of wine. She smiled back. 

“This is nice,” she said. “We never go out.”

“We went out that one time,” he said.

“For like five seconds, before that explosion happened.”

“What about all the times on the road trip or in Asia?”

“I don’t remember a lot of fancy restaurants then. Just mostly eating take out in bed.”

“Good times.” He stretched out his hand, and she took it. He squeezed. For a moment he was lost in her eyes.

“I actually wanted to talk to you about something,” he said, clearing his throat.

“You seem nervous.”

“I’m not nervous.” 

“You don’t have to be,” she said, her voice going up an octave. “We’ve spent all day together, and I know that with William, but it’s not like we need him as a buffer. It’s us, and we’ve been together for ages. And I think I know what you’re going to say. So before you get all broody and growling and quiet, I just want to tell you that I love you and I do want to marry you. It’s just that I don’t know if right now is good timing because with-”

“Felicity,” Oliver said. Her babble died in her throat and she bit her lip. He ran a finger across her knuckles. “I’m not proposing, so you can relax.” 

A little sigh escaped her. “Good because like I said now it’s just not a great time.”

“I actually wanted to tell you that I love you. And for your birthday I decided, I’m going to promise you something. I’m not going to propose, ever.” 

Felicity actually thought her heart had stopped beating. Her throat was closing. Was he breaking up with her?

“Before you freak out, just know, I do want to marry you. I want to marry you, possibly more than I have ever wanted anything in my whole life. But I’m not going to propose.”

“Right,” she said, drawing out the syllables. “I’m sorry. I’m not following. You love me. You want to be with me, but you aren’t going to propose?”

“Felicity Meghan Smoak,” he said, savoring the way her name felt on his lips. “I love you. I want to be with you for the rest of my life and beyond. It doesn’t matter to me when we get married. I’d marry you next year. I’d marry you in ten years. I would marry you right here at this table if you’d let me. I’d never marry you if that’s what you wanted. As long as I have you, it doesn’t matter to me.” 

Her lower lip trembled, and he stretched out his free hand to cradle her cheek. “So your birthday present is a promise. I will never propose. I will wait for you to tell me when you’re ready.”

She leaned into his hand, kissing his palm. 

“Oliver Queen,” she whispered into his skin. “Are you saying I get to propose?”

“Yes,” he said with a smile. “Whenever you want. Is that a good gift? William said it had to be romantic.”

“It’s a great gift,” she said, almost speechless for once. She squeezed his hand. “I love it.” 

_ William never knew he had an aunt. He looked at her sitting up in her hospital bed, and he kept his distance from her, just listening to the way she was talking to his dad. _

_ “Are you telling me I’ve been in a coma for months, and while I was out, all I missed was nothing? No one is engaged or married or fighting a new big bad or anything?” _

_ “I mean,” Oliver said, taking one of her pillows to fluff. “I do have a son now.” _

_ She waved her hand, shooting William a smile. “I already knew that. I was hoping though you’d have proposed to Felicity by now though.” _

_ “He promised her he’d never propose,” William said, despite his nerves around this stranger. His aunt looked at him, then at her brother.  _

_ “You did what?” _

_ “I know,” William said, taking a few steps closer to the bed. “He promised he’d let her propose.” _

_ “Oh Ollie, how feminist of you.”  _

_ “You know what,” he grumbled, slipping the pillow behind Thea and offering his seat to William. “The two of you weren’t there. But I made a good speech. It was romantic as hell and she loved it.” _

_ “Of course she loved it,” Thea said, winking at her nephew, who grinned despite himself. “Felicity always says you’re too controlling, so anytime you let someone else take the wheel she’s over the moon. But the rest of us are disappointed because we want a wedding and she’s going to take her sweet time about it.”  _

_ It turned out, Thea didn’t have to wait that long. A week later they were in Central City. _

_ Felicity’s hand was on her neck. She had a small cut from where Evil Nazi Oliver had held a knife to her throat. She could still remember her Oliver’s growl as he held his own knife to Evil Nazi Kara’s throat. It had all been very confusing. Her thoughts had gotten all jumbled and only one clear thing stuck out to her. Her family would lose her, and she couldn’t bear it. It had worked out, but the thought stayed with her, much like the cut. She traced the outline on her neck. _

_ Feeling Oliver’s hands on her shoulders made her jump. He came around to the front of her, frowning at the look on her face. He gently pushed her hand aside and traced the cut with his thumb. His other hand came up to her cheek and she leaned her face into his palm, closing her eyes and just trying to breathe in his skin. _

_ “It might scar,” he said, quietly.  _

_ “Marry me,” she answered. He blinked at the non sequitur.  _

_ “Felicity.” Her name was soft on his lips. _

_ “Marry me,” she repeated. A smile twitched across his face. _

_ “You’re testing my strength,” he told her. _

_ “You said I get to propose. So I’m proposing. Marry me.” _

_ “You don’t mean it. That’s just the adrenaline.”  _

_ “I do mean it. Marry me.”  _

_ “I am not taking advantage of you right now.” _

_ “It’s not taking advantage. Don’t be an idiot; just marry me.” _

_ He looked at her for a moment, studying her face, the coloring of her skin, the way her hand was braced against his chest, her steady fingers clutching his henley. No flush. No waiver. Just steel in her eyes.  _

_ “Yes,” he said. _

_ “Yes? You want to marry me.” _

_ “We’ve established I do.” He leaned forward and kissed her.  _

_ “William is going to be so fracking happy,” she muttered against his lips. And Oliver smiled.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think it's pretty lucky I get to post this chapter this week, which has been so stressful and crazy. We could probably all use a dose of Olicity romance. I don't know about all of you but getting told I could propose whenever would be like a dream for me, so I hope you enjoyed that particular fantasy. 
> 
> The show's Olicity wedding always kind of bothered me, because they just tacked it on to Barry and Iris's wedding, which first off, was so rude of Felicity and Oliver. You don't just hone in on someone else's wedding. Plus they deserved their own special day, and Thea and William weren't even there! I prefer my headcanon where they got engaged in Central City and then did their own thing when they got home. 
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed and are staying safe, healthy, and sane in these crazy times.


	20. Epilogue: A Yearish Later

William’s arms were crossed glaring at Felicity. She was frowning at him, holding her tablet. His own laptop was clutched loosely in his hand, held out to her, waiting for her to take the worm she’d put on the wifi off it. She wasn’t taking it though, just tapping.

“Are you going to take it off or not?” he demanded. She smiled at his growl. Sometimes he was too much like his dad.

“I have to say,” she said, sitting up on the couch and taking the laptop. “You’ve gotten better.” 

“Excuse me.”

“Let’s check the preteen attitude at the door for this one,” she said, twisting her screen towards him. He took in his boarding school’s website, or what he’d told her was his boarding school’s website. “Very nice job. I almost bought it.”

He rolled his eyes.

“I didn’t fake that.”

“You misspelled the Latin saying,” she said, pointing to the insignia. He cursed under his breath. “So I’m assuming the A you claim to have gotten in Latin is fake.”

“Whatever. It’s a dead language. Python would be more useful.”

“William,” she started but he cut across her.

“What do you even care, Felicity? It’s not like you’re my mom.” 

“Oh, so you’d rather have this conversation with your dad? Because he’s not going to be even remotely impressed or amused by the fake website.”

“He’s too busy with the press anyway,” William snapped. “Filming that damn documentary.”

“William-”

“Google only knows anytime he gives a press conference shitty things follow.”

“That’s not true,” she said, getting to her feet and stepping forward, and grabbing his shoulders. “He gave a press conference once about you, and we got to take you out in public and build a life for you.” She cupped his cheeks. “Everything your dad does he does because he wants to protect us. He loves us.”

“Whatever,” he pulled away from her. 

“Is this because of your thing?”

His heart stopped. She couldn’t know. He had been careful, always. Always so damn careful, at least till he got to boarding school. Sharing a room with all those other boys had been too much. He’d deluded himself. He’d thought one of them Aeden had been into him. He’d tried to kiss him. It’d gone badly, and he’d punched him in the face to cover. It was a good cover story, even if it resulted in him getting expelled. It was better than everyone knowing, but if Felicity knew...if she suspected.

“What thing?” he said, turning, his voice had gone up an octave, and she raised her eyebrows in suspicion. “I don’t have a thing. I don’t know what you heard or what the school told you, but it’s a lie. I didn’t do anything it was-”

“You’re babbling,” Felicity said, stepping forward. “That must be contagious.”

He stepped back.

“William, what happened at school?”

“I...I got expelled for punching this kid in the nose.”

Felicity took in a long slow breath before speaking, “Because you were upset. You figured it out?”

What was she talking about? He’d figured it out? He was gay. He’d figured that out years ago, even if he couldn’t bring himself to say it out loud. 

“How long have you known?” she pressed.

“I don’t know,” he mumbled, looking at his feet. “Years.”

“How could you have known for years. It’s barely been two months.” 

William frowned at that. “I mean it started before London.”

“No it didn’t,” Felicity said, frowning. She, like him, was coming to the conclusion they were talking about two very different things. 

“What are you talking about?” both of them said at the same time. They were interrupted by Archer chirping and the door opening.

“Green Arrow entering Queen residence.”

“Hey,” Oliver said, walking forward and wrapping William in a tight hug. “Cameras are gone now. Sorry about that. I know you hate media attention.” He looked between his wife and son, facing off.

“William got expelled.”

“What?” his dad released him at her words and took a stance next to Felicity. He winced, hating going up against them when they were a united front. Why did the big bads even bother? Did they not realize how terrifying his parents could be?

“He punched some kid named Aeden in the face,” Felicity said, eyes wide behind her glasses.

“I did it just like you told me, Dad. I went for the nose.”

“You told him to do this, Oliver!” 

“No! It was advice on dealing with bullies, not something you’re supposed to do without provocation or reason.”

“I had a reason,” William muttered under his breath. 

“What was it?” Oliver demanded, and William winced cursing his dad’s freakish hearing. Oliver glanced at Felicity, face paling slightly. “Does he know?”

“I thought that was it but he claimed to know about it for years, which isn’t possible because I’m not that far along and-”

“Far along with what?” William asked, voice suddenly rising. Oliver grimaced. The thirteen-year-old looked around the apartment, suddenly taking in the lack of wine his dad kept on hand for Felicity, the decaf coffee sitting next to the coffee pot.

“Oh god! You’re pregnant!” It came out strangled. He found his lower lip trembling. She couldn’t look at him. That was it. That was why they hadn’t wanted him to come home for Christmas. They had a new baby to prepare for, one that was just theirs. They didn’t want him anymore. His heart pounded in his chest, and he moved towards the exit, without thinking. 

“William!” Oliver called, but the boy was already out the door. He heard Archer chirp about his departure. He was down the hall, taking the stairs, feet pounding. He hit the lobby breathless and made a mad dash out to the street, picking a direction and random and just starting to walk. He was biting back tears, cursing himself for not taking his cellphone with him. If he’d brought it, he could call his grandparents, ask them to come to get him. He wouldn’t have to go back to that house, where he clearly wasn’t wanted.

His feet pounded the pavement and he moved through the unfamiliar neighborhood they’d moved to while he’d been away. He found a park and sat heavily on a bench, leaning forward and burying his face in his hands, letting all the anger and fear he’d felt since Aeden had rejected him out in a loud, uncontrolled sob. He heard footsteps within seconds of sitting down. He knew his Dad must have been behind him the whole time. He could have swooped in and caught him if he wanted, but Oliver had elected to give him some space. 

“Talk to me,” Oliver said. He didn’t touch him, for which William was very grateful. “What’s wrong?” 

William shook his head, and Oliver sighed.

“You know,” the former mayor said, voice soft. “When I was a few years younger than you, there was this girl, Gabby.”

William glanced at his face, registering the smile plastered across his expression.

“She was brunette. Before Felicity, I mostly went for brunettes.”

“She dyes it,” William said automatically.

“Yes,” Oliver said with a small chuckle, continuing the story. “So one day I asked her if she wanted my pudding cup at lunch, and she said no. She was lactose intolerant or something. But I thought it meant she didn’t like me, and I was really upset. So later at recess, I knocked her to the ground and she skinned her knee and split her lip.”

William didn’t answer. His heart had stopped in his chest.

“We’re pretty similar, you and me.” Oliver leaned his elbows on his knees, rubbing his hands together. 

“It wasn’t about a girl,” William said, his voice choked. 

“I know,” Oliver said, still not touching him, even though he wanted nothing more than to pull his son into his arms and tell him it would be okay. He was loved.

“What are you saying then?” William asked. Part of him was horrified, embarrassed, humiliated his dad knew, but the other part was relieved. He wouldn’t have to tell him.

“I’m saying,” Oliver said, slowly. “I know, from the few conversations I’ve had with them, that your grandparents are very conservative. I never told you this, but they always stress whenever I talk to them, that I should make sure to keep the “gays” away from you. Whatever that means.”

William felt a lump rising in his throat. He pulled his knees into his chest, burning his face into them. 

“And I don’t know what your mom did about that, or if she explained it. But I want you to know, they’re very off base here. There is nothing wrong with being gay.”

William didn’t answer. 

“Felicity and I love you, whether your gay, straight, bi, pan, asexual. Whatever you are, doesn’t matter to us. You’re ours.” 

“That’s not true,” William said, finally finding his voice.

“William, of course, it’s true,” Oliver said, frowning. “We don’t care. Curtis is gay. I never told you this but I dated a bisexual girl, pretty seriously, before Felicity. And I know you’re going to say that it’s different when it’s your own kid, but that’s just not how Felicity and I feel. We love you.”

“No,” William said, tears still slipping down his cheeks. “I know that or whatever, but I’m not yours.” 

Oliver blinked. 

“You are,” he said, rubbing the boy’s back. William let out a loud sigh at the contact. “I did a DNA test and everything.”

The joke didn’t land. 

“I mean I’m not yours  _ and _ Felicity’s. The new baby is.”

Oliver let out a long slow breath. 

“Ah,” he said. “I thought that was part of it.”

“I didn’t know she was pregnant when I punched Aeden,” he said, wiping the tears off his cheeks, suddenly aware they were both out on a park bench in January without coats. 

“But you know now,” Oliver said slowly. “It’s very new.” 

“I figured.” 

“William, look at me.”

William let out a huff and turned his face to look at his dad’s face. Oliver stared at him unblinking, face serious. William had seen him do with Felicity before when she’d been really freaked out. He hadn’t realized how intense this level of eye contact could be.

“Felicity and I could have a million kids and you would always be ours. I love you. She loves you. New baby or no new baby. You’re our son.” 

“You say that now. It’ll change,” William said, looking away.

“Wanna bet?”

“Soda.”

“What?”

“If I’m right, and Felicity doesn’t treat me the same as she does the new baby, I get to keep soda in the house.”

Oliver smiled. “And when I’m right and she does treat you the same, you have to eat kale once a week.”

William’s face fell. 

“See?” Oliver said, getting to his feet and extending a hand to his older son. “Not that confident are you?”

“How do you know? That it’s going to be okay?” William asked, taking his father’s hand and getting to his feet.

“Because,” Oliver said, throwing his arms around his son and rubbing his upper arm to create some heat against the northwestern cold. “We’ve survived worse.”

For an instant, William thought he could hear the explosions echoing unspoken between them. Then he smiled. He’d never considered the explosions on Lian Yu to be something in the past, something he’d survived. It felt good.

“Yeah,” William said, smiling a little more, despite himself.

They went home. It was good William didn’t take the bet.

_ Oliver placed a little bundle of pink blankets in William’s arms. It was one of the only times he saw his sister in pink. Felicity insisted it was sexist to dress girls in pink and as a baby, she had very few pink outfits, all gifts from other people. When she grew up, the mini blonde version of Felicity and Oliver preferred dark colors, mostly green, the better to jump out of the woods and scare the living daylights out of her brother with.  _

_ But the day she was born, she was wrapped in a pink blanket. William peered at her scrunched up face, as Oliver looked down at his two children, a sense of peace flooding his chest.  _

_ “William,” Oliver said, “This is Mia. Mia Deardren Queen. Mia, that’s William, your big brother.”  _

_ The future hacker didn’t say anything. He looked into his tiny sister’s face, and he couldn’t help but smile.  _

_ “Hi Mia,” he whispered. She opened her eyes blearily at him and closed them again.  _

_ “Not so scary right?” Oliver asked. _

_ “You were right,” William said. “Adrian Chase was worse.” _

_ Though Mia never kidnapped anyone or blew up an island, there were many times she tested that statement throughout the years, but, no matter how much trouble she caused, her older brother would always remember her as a squishy baby, wrapped up in a pink blanket.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! I can't believe I finished! I have to say I have loved writing this story! It's gotten a lovely response, and I consider it to be something of a masterpiece if I do say so myself. This was my first fanfic since finishing college and it was lovely to just play with someone else's creations and not have to stress about my own. Though I should probably work on writing my original work between all the fanfiction writing. My own creations can be fun too. 
> 
> Writing about mental health always makes me appreciate my own. I've worked very hard to be an emotionally healthy person, and I just want to say, if you are struggling with mental health, please take William's realization at the end to heart. With time and work, you can survive. 
> 
> Thank you all for your comments and your views and your kudos. Getting back into fanfiction during a global pandemic has been a blessing. I've been looking forward to posting and reading everyone's responses. It's made me feel connected to the world, even when I've only been able to see a few people in my life. I got the first dose of the vaccine yesterday, and I have to say, even though I'm not changing my behavior, it felt like the first step in being able to step out into a post-pandemic world. 
> 
> Thank you all for taking the time to read. Please, stay safe and healthy.


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